It seems the 2019 FIBA World Cup — known as the FIBA World Championship until 2010 — has had more players drop out of the competition than ever before. Team USA had all of the following players decline the opportunity to play: Anthony Davis, Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, Julius Randle, Tobias Harris, Paul Millsap, JJ Redick, Montrezl Harrell, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Bradley Beal, DeMar DeRozan, James Harden, and Eric Gordon.
That’s a full roster. And Team USA will still run the tournament with the likes of Donovan Mitchell, Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Khris Middleton among the players at the workouts in Las Vegas.
Among those who had the potential to give Team USA fits is Canada. But America’s neighbors to the north have had issues of their own with the roster. They’ve lost Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett, Tristan Thompson, Dwight Powell, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
And now you can add Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the list of Canadian players who aren’t participating in the FIBA World Cup. Though Thunder fans may not mind as much, since he expressed on Twitter he’s trying to get ready for his first season with his new team:
