Basketball is a global sport.

The saying has been uttered for decades as a way to explain basketball’s transcendence beyond the United States and North America to truly span all corners of the globe. Think about Hakeem Olajuwon, the game’s first international superstar. Although he represented Team USA as a member of the 1996 Olympics, he was born and raised in Nigeria.

Soon after, stars of the 2000s came into relevance: the Canadian Steve Nash, the Frenchman Tony Parker, the Spainiard Pau Gasol, the Argentinian Manu Ginobili, the Chinese Yao Ming. Stars started to come from across the globe, and that has persisted today.

Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid are arguably the best four players on the planet today.

But was basketball truly a global game in terms of FIBA and international competitions? Sure, these stars were coming to the NBA, but no country came close to rivaling the USA. Opposing countries just didn’t have the depth of talent — even those with a star or two — to compete. Even in Europe, there were a handful of elite countries that very clearly reigned supreme over the rest of the world. 

If basketball was global, it would mean that it would not just be fellow top 10 or 15 teams that could beat other top 10 or 15 teams. Formerly, there was a bubble around the elite. In recent years, particularly the last five dating back to the 2019 World Cup, that bubble has been burst and shattered. Basketball is undeniably global, finally.

The USA has not won a medal in either of the last two editions of the FIBA World Cup. Countries such as Montenegro — which has a population of only 600,000 — are finishing top 12 at the World Cup. More notably than either of these two facts, however, is the rise in prominence of Asian and African basketball. Perhaps no other day in history exemplified that better than today’s date of July 3rd, 2024.

Riga, Latvia: Philippines defeat Latvia 89-80.

Valencia, Spain: Spain defeats Angola 89-81.

San Juan, Puerto Rico: Lithuania defeats Ivory Coast 97-93.

This may be one European team losing today, but the story of today goes beyond the final score. The non-Europeans squads’ ability to fight against successful teams and find themselves in close games is something that was hard to come by even ten years ago.

The Philippines win may very well be the biggest win in the federation’s history, and that isn’t exaggeration. 1960 was the last time that the Philippines won a FIBA game against any European country, and beating Latvia isn’t just any European country. Gilas Pilipinas led by as much as 26 points (yes 26 points) in the third quarter.

They are just a year removed from finishing 5th at the FIBA World Cup, where they beat perhaps the two most notable European powerhouses: France and Spain. They were undeniably the story of last year’s World Cup, and they have been so good recently that they find themselves ranked No. 6 in the world.

Expectations were very low for the Philippines entering the tournament. They are coming off a 24th place finish in the World Cup last summer. That didn’t matter. Justin Brownlee, who Kai Sotto called the Michael Jordan of the Philippines, replaced Jordan Clarkson from last summer’s roster. In this monumental victory against Latvia, this so-called MJ flirted with a triple double by posting 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists.

7’2” 22-year-old Kai Sotto has long been envisioned as the next player to take the reigns of the country’s basketball talent. Against Latvia, he showed what many people saw this tall, young, raw Asian kid to be. On the road against Latvia who had their entire country behind them, Sotto had 18 points and 8 rebounds on 7-10 shooting.

It took 64 years for the Philippines to finally get a win over a European team. They’ve been in nine competitions — World Cups, Olympics, Olympic qualifiers — to get a shot to knock off a European. They couldn’t… for 64 years. They did it.

Soon after this game’s conclusion, Spain was ready to take on Angola in its hometown of Valencia. They entered the game on the heels of a 45-point victory over Lebanon just the day prior, and the thousands of people who entered Pavelló Municipal Font de Sant Lluís likely expected a similar result.

They obtained their expected result of a win, but it was not in similar fashion whatsoever. Spain only had an eight point win against a team they were expected to blow out. The furthest they expanded the lead was 12 despite having undeniably a superior roster. Spanish legends Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Llull, and Lorenzo Brown took the court. 2022 EuroBasket MVP Willy Hernangomez suited up. NBA players Santi Aldama and Usman Garuba laced their shoes up on the hardwood.

Angola didn’t stop fighting. Many clearly inferior teams would have seen the 22-17 first quarter deficit against the No. 2 ranked FIBA team as a loss, losing confidence. Angola wasn’t going to let that be them, as they won the second quarter 26-24. They even won the fourth quarter 22-21. Five players poured in double digits points.

Unlike the Philippines, Angola has somewhat of a storied basketball history, especially in Africa. Through the late 1980s to the early 2010s, Angola was the clear-cut top team in Africa, winning 11 AfroBaskets and qualifying for the Olympics five times. Yet still, they couldn’t compete at the Olympics, as they went 4-27 in those five consecutive Olympics from 1992-2008.

Angola’s last win against a European team came in the 2012 Olympic qualifiers against North Macedonia, so they are no way the same boat as the Philippines. However, since then, they were 0-6 against European teams entering this game. Maintaining a game this close against La Familia — the most storied basketball country outside of the USA in basketball history — has to be great momentum heading into their game against Lebanon tomorrow.

The most intense game, however, was saved for last, as the Ivory Coast took on Lithuania in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Ivory Coast entered this game with an all-time record of 2-23 on the global stage, all from games in the World Cup. They have never beat a European team. They saw green and gold across from them and did not back down.

Lithuania, the No. 10 country in the world, is just one year removed from a 6th place finish at the FIBA World Cup. That incredible tournament for the Europeans included a win over the United States. As was the case in other games, there was no reason to believe that Lithuania wouldn’t have an easy win over a team that had finished just 27th at the prior World Cup.

The Africans showed that it wouldn’t be easy. At halftime, they only trailed 47-42. The third quarter is where the magic happened, as they outscored Lithuania 30-18 to take a notable 72-65 lead entering the final 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, 2x All-NBA and Sacramento King Domantas Sabonis had other plans, as he scored nine fourth quarter points. His teammate Marius Grigonis poured in 14 points in the final quarter to put a cap on the game.

With 2:48 remaining in the game, Ivory Coast actually led Lithuania 88-82. With under a minute, Ivory Coast held a lead. Lithuania just found clutch buckets in the end to secure the win, but that doesn’t mean that Deon Thompson (18 points), Jean Philippe Dally (15 points), Assemian Moulare (12 points, 7 assists), and company don’t deserve credit. They were incredibly close to getting the best win in country history.

In 2016, FIBA introduced a new format for Olympic qualifcaition. The majority of teams would qualify from the prior World Cup, while the last few would find spots in Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. Since then, there have been seven OQTs. Seven European teams have come through this OQTs.

I would be willing to take a bet that there is a change of the guard this year. Of the four OQTs, it won’t just be European teams — the continent with the most depth — who win. What’s stopping Brazil from winning in Riga? What about Puerto Rico in their home country? Why can’t the Bahamas find two more wins in Valencia?

Sure, you can look at the bottom of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups to say that Africa and Asia still lag behind the Americas and Europes in terms of talent. Of the bottom ten teams in the tournaments, culamitvely 17 were African or Asian nations. You can look at Spain’s dominance over Lebanon just yesterday.

With that said, look at today. History was made, or nearly made, three times today. Three top 10 teams either lost or almost lost to teams ranked in the 30s. The teams ranked #19-#21 in FIBA’s OQT power rankings challenged or beat the teams ranked #3-#5. Asia and African teams can compete with the best of the them. That’s what a global game looks like.

Basketball is a global sport.

The saying has been uttered for decades as a way to explain basketball’s transcendence beyond the United States and North America to truly span all corners of the globe. Think about Hakeem Olajuwon, the game’s first international superstar. Although he represented Team USA as a member of the 1996 Olympics, he was born and raised in Nigeria.

Soon after, stars of the 2000s came into relevance: the Canadian Steve Nash, the Frenchman Tony Parker, the Spainiard Pau Gasol, the Argentinian Manu Ginobili, the Chinese Yao Ming. Stars started to come from across the globe, and that has persisted today.

Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid are arguably the best four players on the planet today.

But was basketball truly a global game in terms of FIBA and international competitions? Sure, these stars were coming to the NBA, but no country came close to rivaling the USA. Opposing countries just didn’t have the depth of talent — even those with a star or two — to compete. Even in Europe, there were a handful of elite countries that very clearly reigned supreme over the rest of the world. 

If basketball was global, it would mean that it would not just be fellow top 10 or 15 teams that could beat other top 10 or 15 teams. Formerly, there was a bubble around the elite. In recent years, particularly the last five dating back to the 2019 World Cup, that bubble has been burst and shattered. Basketball is undeniably global, finally.

The USA has not won a medal in either of the last two editions of the FIBA World Cup. Countries such as Montenegro — which has a population of only 600,000 — are finishing top 12 at the World Cup. More notably than either of these two facts, however, is the rise in prominence of Asian and African basketball. Perhaps no other day in history exemplified that better than today’s date of July 3rd, 2024.

Riga, Latvia: Philippines defeat Latvia 89-80.

Valencia, Spain: Spain defeats Angola 89-81.

San Juan, Puerto Rico: Lithuania defeats Ivory Coast 97-93.

This may be one European team losing today, but the story of today goes beyond the final score. The non-Europeans squads’ ability to fight against successful teams and find themselves in close games is something that was hard to come by even ten years ago.

The Philippines win may very well be the biggest win in the federation’s history, and that isn’t exaggeration. 1960 was the last time that the Philippines won a FIBA game against any European country, and beating Latvia isn’t just any European country. Gilas Pilipinas led by as much as 26 points (yes 26 points) in the third quarter.

They are just a year removed from finishing 5th at the FIBA World Cup, where they beat perhaps the two most notable European powerhouses: France and Spain. They were undeniably the story of last year’s World Cup, and they have been so good recently that they find themselves ranked No. 6 in the world.

Expectations were very low for the Philippines entering the tournament. They are coming off a 24th place finish in the World Cup last summer. That didn’t matter. Justin Brownlee, who Kai Sotto called the Michael Jordan of the Philippines, replaced Jordan Clarkson from last summer’s roster. In this monumental victory against Latvia, this so-called MJ flirted with a triple double by posting 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists.

7’2” 22-year-old Kai Sotto has long been envisioned as the next player to take the reigns of the country’s basketball talent. Against Latvia, he showed what many people saw this tall, young, raw Asian kid to be. On the road against Latvia who had their entire country behind them, Sotto had 18 points and 8 rebounds on 7-10 shooting.

It took 64 years for the Philippines to finally get a win over a European team. They’ve been in nine competitions — World Cups, Olympics, Olympic qualifiers — to get a shot to knock off a European. They couldn’t… for 64 years. They did it.

Soon after this game’s conclusion, Spain was ready to take on Angola in its hometown of Valencia. They entered the game on the heels of a 45-point victory over Lebanon just the day prior, and the thousands of people who entered Pavelló Municipal Font de Sant Lluís likely expected a similar result.

They obtained their expected result of a win, but it was not in similar fashion whatsoever. Spain only had an eight point win against a team they were expected to blow out. The furthest they expanded the lead was 12 despite having undeniably a superior roster. Spanish legends Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Llull, and Lorenzo Brown took the court. 2022 EuroBasket MVP Willy Hernangomez suited up. NBA players Santi Aldama and Usman Garuba laced their shoes up on the hardwood.

Angola didn’t stop fighting. Many clearly inferior teams would have seen the 22-17 first quarter deficit against the No. 2 ranked FIBA team as a loss, losing confidence. Angola wasn’t going to let that be them, as they won the second quarter 26-24. They even won the fourth quarter 22-21. Five players poured in double digits points.

Unlike the Philippines, Angola has somewhat of a storied basketball history, especially in Africa. Through the late 1980s to the early 2010s, Angola was the clear-cut top team in Africa, winning 11 AfroBaskets and qualifying for the Olympics five times. Yet still, they couldn’t compete at the Olympics, as they went 4-27 in those five consecutive Olympics from 1992-2008.

Angola’s last win against a European team came in the 2012 Olympic qualifiers against North Macedonia, so they are no way the same boat as the Philippines. However, since then, they were 0-6 against European teams entering this game. Maintaining a game this close against La Familia — the most storied basketball country outside of the USA in basketball history — has to be great momentum heading into their game against Lebanon tomorrow.

The most intense game, however, was saved for last, as the Ivory Coast took on Lithuania in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Ivory Coast entered this game with an all-time record of 2-23 on the global stage, all from games in the World Cup. They have never beat a European team. They saw green and gold across from them and did not back down.

Lithuania, the No. 10 country in the world, is just one year removed from a 6th place finish at the FIBA World Cup. That incredible tournament for the Europeans included a win over the United States. As was the case in other games, there was no reason to believe that Lithuania wouldn’t have an easy win over a team that had finished just 27th at the prior World Cup.

The Africans showed that it wouldn’t be easy. At halftime, they only trailed 47-42. The third quarter is where the magic happened, as they outscored Lithuania 30-18 to take a notable 72-65 lead entering the final 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, 2x All-NBA and Sacramento King Domantas Sabonis had other plans, as he scored nine fourth quarter points. His teammate Marius Grigonis poured in 14 points in the final quarter to put a cap on the game.

With 2:48 remaining in the game, Ivory Coast actually led Lithuania 88-82. With under a minute, Ivory Coast held a lead. Lithuania just found clutch buckets in the end to secure the win, but that doesn’t mean that Deon Thompson (18 points), Jean Philippe Dally (15 points), Assemian Moulare (12 points, 7 assists), and company don’t deserve credit. They were incredibly close to getting the best win in country history.

In 2016, FIBA introduced a new format for Olympic qualifcaition. The majority of teams would qualify from the prior World Cup, while the last few would find spots in Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. Since then, there have been seven OQTs. Seven European teams have come through this OQTs.

I would be willing to take a bet that there is a change of the guard this year. Of the four OQTs, it won’t just be European teams — the continent with the most depth — who win. What’s stopping Brazil from winning in Riga? What about Puerto Rico in their home country? Why can’t the Bahamas find two more wins in Valencia?

Sure, you can look at the bottom of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups to say that Africa and Asia still lag behind the Americas and Europes in terms of talent. Of the bottom ten teams in the tournaments, culamitvely 17 were African or Asian nations. You can look at Spain’s dominance over Lebanon just yesterday.

With that said, look at today. History was made, or nearly made, three times today. Three top 10 teams either lost or almost lost to teams ranked in the 30s. The teams ranked #19-#21 in FIBA’s OQT power rankings challenged or beat the teams ranked #3-#5. Asia and African teams can compete with the best of the them. That’s what a global game looks like.