Stern has concocted up the idea to put on a basketball version of the World Cup. As much as I dislike Stern and his money hungry ulterior motives I love this idea. This will further the growth of basketball internationally. link: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--n...ue-with-world-cup-of-basketball-proposal.html
I feel FIBA and the NBA could make this tournament a much bigger deal and market a world cup of basketball far better than the International Olympic Committee markets olympic basketball. Half the time I try to watch an olymic basketball game they are showing some b.s. sport that no one cares about. And the international rules suck too.
I'm totally down for this. I mean, the Olympics are nice and all, but the focus should be on Basketball. No one really gives a crap about Soccer at the Olympics. Should honestly be the same as Basketball. In the Olympics, you only get like 12 teams. If you do a FIBA World Cup, you could easily do 24 or maybe even 32. Here it is I'll do it up. 24 teams, Four groups of Six. Top four from each round make it to the knock out round. five pool games, plus four tourney games. 9 games, which would make it a short tourney. So let's do a series in the tourney part of the Cup. Five Pool games, plus a best of 3 in each round. Could be as much as 17 games in a month.
FIBA used to be way different than what they are now. They're a little bit closer to what the NBA is now.
Yeah as said in the other thread. They need to move from the Olympic tourney being THE main tourney. For so many reasons. I do think the NBA Owners should get a large share of that...but it shouldn't be set in stone. Should be a % obviously that would rise should another league gain popularity. I don't know if it could ever be as large as the World Cup....but it could be a lot better than what it is now obviously.
It is the big one, however, in America, I don't think it's perceived as being "the big one." Think other countries think it is bigger.
It would work if most countries actually cared about this basketball as much as the Chinese do. The same way America feels about soccer, the same way most countries not named China feel about basketball. The only hope would be is that the NBA gets more international stars for teams to stack up and get their country behind them.
Okay, get the players to agree with this. They rarely show up for the Fiba tourney, it's almost universally agreed that the big one is the Olympics. Most just skip out on the Fiba's
But if the NBA grabs this new tournament by the horns and a bunch of money is at stake, the players will agree to it and grab their share. The idea of a legit "World Cup" of basketball is an incredibly attractive idea, much more than the Olympics IMO. The FIBA World Championships are fine and dandy, but a partnership with the NBA will take things to another level. This makes so much sense it's scary. It will never reach the level of World Cup Soccer, but the profile of basketball globally will go up.
I agree. I hope they move forward with the idea. It likely will never reach the level of the World Cup but there is still a lot of room for the sport to grow. Also just advertising wise would help it. It would move from the shadow of the Olympics and be it's own thing.
You couldnt be further from the truth The NBA by far is the most popular amerian sports league in the world. And NBA Players are by far the most popular well known american athletes in the world next to Tiger Woods, and Michael Phelps. More people around the world know who Brian Scalbrine is over Aaron Rodgers ad Adrian Peterson Basketball is the fastest growing sport in several countries which include the UK, Canada, and India. Basketball as a whole the 2nd most popular sport in the world, and is gaining on soccer big time( read eurosport magazine like i do) http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/10/07/football.nba.fear.world/index.html http://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciaj...nbas-international-viewership-and-popularity/ http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/sports/comments/082610_nba_india/ http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/canadabasketball_010909.html The NBA is only gtting bigger, and not just the NBA, but basketball as a whole
BTW this would be a great idea, and a chance for more people to see great basketball players competiting againist each other. Instead of waking up at 5 in the morning to watch the NBA or playoffs
you are right, but IMO a basketball world cup will never reach anywhere near the interest what other sport world cups are generating. IMO, basketball is not nearly as competitive as say soccar world cup. You have about 4 good teams that will reach the semis, USA is pretty much a sure thing in the finals. Not too many teams that can be competitive with USA. You are right in that Basketball is probably the fastest growing sport in the world, but skill wise, most of the world is too far behind. Look at the Fiba world champs, it is boring as hell for most teams that participate. Only the finals will generate the slightest of interest because fans want to see team america dunk on people. Most of the competition generates very little interest once your own team falls out.
Early FIFA World Cups were dominated by Uruguay and Brazil as well for more than a decade as well. Nevertheless it promoted global competition and other countries especially those in Europe caught up pretty quickly.
Did you not watch the Spain vs. USA Gold Medal game in 2008, The USA will have tough competition in a few years Kevin Durant is probably the single most important player on Team USA this year next to Kevin Love because of their automatic jumpshots, and ability to break zones that team FIBA teams try and use againist them Kevin Durant is like Dirk Nowitizki 2.0, his skillset is rare for an american player, he has great fundamentals, and he could probably be the best player in Europe right now if he wanted too
