Basketball’s global capabilities are slowly growing to the NBA’s level, where teams and players from outside the USA are questioning the American league’s use of the word, ‘World Champions.’
Recently, a EuroLeague head coach revisited the semantic debate surrounding NBA champions being named world champions. He said in an interview that if you want to be called world champions, you have to beat the EuroLeague champs and the Australian league champs.
“If you want to be the World Champions, you must beat the EuroLeague champion. Maybe you must beat the Australian champion as well,” said Erfin Ataman, head coach of Panathinaikos B.C.
“Lol, let’s play the games then,” replied Thunder’s Alex Caruso in an Instagram story.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were doubted and undermined all the way to the finals. So this is nothing new for Caruso. But he’s ready to throw it down with whomever is required because he has full faith in his team.
The debate surrounding NBA teams calling themselves world champions is a couple of years old. It was American Olympic sprinter Noah Lyles who first sparked the issue when he provided his perspective.
“‘I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on their heads. World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the US at times. But that ain’t the world… We are the world. We have almost every country out here fighting and thriving and putting on a flag to show that they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA,” Lyles said in 2023.
The NBA is the premier league for basketball in the world, and most of the players from Europe or Australia tend to move here if they have the talent to do so. But this has also led to the NBA being full of top European talent that has sometimes dominated the entire NBA.
In 2006-07, Dirk Nowitzki became the first European player to be crowned the MVP of the league by putting up recorded averages of 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, while shooting 50.2% from the field.
That led to players like Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo finding it much easier to be accepted in the league. It also helped that all three of these players are capable of taking over an entire season.
Jokic and Antetokounmpo have already shown with their MVP-caliber performances and the three championships they’ve won between themselves that European players can come and show sheer domination in America’s beloved basketball league. Victor Wembanyama is another superstar in the making from across the pond.
It has gotten to the point where the NBA is expected to introduce a mini round-robin style tournament between two USA teams and a World team for the 2026 All-Star weekend. It looks like even the premier basketball league in the world wants to put an end to this debate.
But when it comes to tournaments, there are two where top American NBA stars go and showcase their prowess in front of the world. These are the Olympic Games and the FIBA World Cup.
Team USA has won the last five gold medals at the biggest stage, with a majority of the flags in the world present and competing. When it comes to the FIBA World Cup, though, Team USA has found itself falling short of the ultimate prize for the last two editions.
Spain won the FIBA World Cup in 2019, and Germany won the latest edition in 2023. This led to a German World Cup winner even calling out Team USA.
Adam Silver is preparing to build something that could end these debates once and for all. The NBA commissioner is working on a new type of league where NBA teams will get to face off with EuroLeague teams. According to him, this is still a couple of years away, but talks are on and progress is being made.
There is a growing global interest in seeing international teams go against each other. If Commissioner Silver pulls off the collaboration league, its winner could be the first franchise to be called World Champions.
