2023 United States FIBA Basketball World Cup team

The team held training camp in early August and scheduled five exhibition games before their World Cup opener at the end of the month in Manila.

Being one of the top two World Cup finishers in the Americas zone, the team directly qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

[4] The United States had won gold medals in two of the previous six World Cups, with the 2019 squad finishing in a disappointing seventh place.

[5] New USA Basketball president Grant Hill dropped the requirement established by his predecessor, Jerry Colangelo, for multi-year commitments from players to build continuity.

[3][6] "People's willingness and commitment to give two consecutive years to Team USA has changed, so we have to be able to adapt to the times", said Hill.

[6] No pool of players was named for the national team,[6] ending the practice of trials and cuts based on candidates' performance in camp.

[9] It was constructed by Hill and head coach Steve Kerr to be fast and flexible, and players were selected with an emphasis on length, toughness, and ability to move the ball.

[14] Team USA's centers included Jackson, the 2023 NBA Defensive Player of the Year,[15][16] who mostly played power forward with the Memphis Grizzlies.

[10] Their only true center was Walker Kessler,[17] an effective inside defender and shot blocker, who was coming off his NBA rookie year.

[18] The Americans' other forwards who could play center included Paolo Banchero, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, and Bobby Portis.

[19] Other players who were long and capable of defending multiple positions include Haliburton, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, Cameron Johnson and Austin Reaves.

[12] Historically, the United States had focused on younger players looking to use the World Cup as a showcase for a potential future Olympic invite.

[28] They outscored their opponents by an average of 22.6 points per game, but had turnover issues in multiple contests and trailed in the second half against Spain and Germany.

[30] U.S. head coach Steve Kerr liked his ability to push the ball in transition as a center, as Bam Adebayo did for the 2020 Olympic team.

Josh Hart made his debut for Team USA after missing the previous game while signing a four-year contract extension with the New York Knicks.

[33] Jackson added 14 points, five rebounds and three blocks for Team USA while playing against NBA-sized big men Santi Aldama and brothers Willy and Juancho Hernangómez.

[34] The Americans led at halftime by 10, but committed seven turnovers in the third quarter, as the Spaniards closed the gap and took the lead with under four minutes left in the period.

[35] Team USA led by as many as 17 in the first period,[35] but they committed four turnovers in a span of six possessions in the second quarter, as Greece pulled to within six points.

He was among six Americans to score in double figures, including starters Jackson (11 points) and Mikal Bridges (10) and reserves Johnson (13), Reaves (11) and Portis (10).

[43] The Kiwis jumped out to an early 14–4 lead with 5:48 left in the first quarter,[44][45] while the Americans missed five shots and committed four turnovers in their initial 11 possessions.

[44] Reaves had a team-high 15 points along with five rebounds and six assists in a 109–81 win over Greece, which assured the Americans that they would advance to the second round of the World Cup.

[47] Greek center Georgios Papagiannis, a lottery pick of the Phoenix Suns in the 2016 NBA draft, scored 11 of his 17 points in the first quarter to keep the game close early.

[40] His opportunities were more limited in the starting lineup with Brunson and Edwards, while Haliburton and Reaves moved the ball well on the second unit.

[58] Similar to their comeback win in their exhibition match against Germany, Kerr had reserves Haliburton and Reaves close out the game.

[58] Vaidas Kariniauskas scored 15 points as Lithuania won 110–104, handing the United States its first loss of the World Cup.

[52][57][64] Trailing by 17 points at halftime,[57] the Americans outscored the Lithuanians 9–0 to begin the second half, part of a 15–2 run over a 4:16 span to cut the lead to four.

[52] After losses by Brazil, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, Team USA also qualified for the 2024 Olympics as one of the top two World Cup finishers from the Americas.

[17] The United States advanced to the final round in which the top two teams from the respective second-round groups qualified in the single-elimination tournament.

[73] Andreas Obst scored 24 points and Franz Wagner had 22 as Germany won 113–111 to oust the United States from gold medal contention.

[75] Germany took advantage of Team USA's smaller lineup with 12 offensive rebounds compared to seven for the Americans,[76] leading to a 25–8 edge in second-chance points.