The tournament was held by the International Basketball Federation in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, from August 29 to September 8, 2002.

There were 16 teams taking part in the 2002 World Cup of Basketball.

Since the 2000 Olympic champions United States had direct access to the World Championship as the host nation, the Olympic berth was replaced by an extra qualifying spot assigned to FIBA Americas below.

At the start of tournament, all 16 participating countries had 12 players on their roster.

The following nations' teams competed: Angola Canada Spain Yugoslavia Brazil Lebanon Puerto Rico Turkey Algeria China Germany United States Argentina New Zealand Russia Venezuela The top three teams in each group advance to the second round, into either Group E or F. The fourth place team in each group moves onto the 13th–16th classification.