The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the

FIBA Basketball World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's globa ...

for men's national basketball teams, held from 31 August to 15 September 2019. The tournament was hosted in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

that did not occur in the same year as the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

(which was held the previous year). The tournament expanded from 24 to 32 teams. The tournament also served as

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, which took the top two teams from each of the Americas and Europe, and the top team from each of Africa, Asia and Oceania, alongside the tournament's host Japan. Montenegro and the Czech Republic each made their first appearance as independent nations after previously being part of

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

and

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

respectively, while Poland marked its return to the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time since 1967. The defending champions, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, experienced their worst result at a World Cup, losing to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the quarter-finals and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in the subsequent classification game. The United States' previous worst result was sixth place in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. This was the first World Cup at which all three of the historically most successful teams (United States,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) failed to reach the semi-finals. Asian powerhouse and hosts

failed to get out of the first round, losing in shocking upsets to Poland and Venezuela. China ultimately missed the Asian qualifying spot for Tokyo, the first time in the country's history they did not qualify directly for the Olympics.

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

captured their second title after beating Argentina in the final 95–75. It was the second time Spain had reached a World Cup final, and its second win, while for Argentina it would prove to be its second defeat in three attempts. France went on to win the bronze medal for the second consecutive time after defeating Australia 67–59.

Hosts selection

The whole bidding process started in April 2014. Bids from numerous nations were submitted. On 16 March 2015, it was confirmed that the World Cup would be staged in Asia, with China and Philippines as the final countries to be the basis for the selection of the host. On 7 August 2015, it was announced that China won the bid against the Philippines and will host the upcoming World Cup.

Voting results

Venues

Qualification

China as the hosts automatically qualified for the tournament. The continental championships were no longer the qualification system for the World Cup. Instead, two rounds of continental qualifying tournaments were held over two years. The first round of the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Africa qualifiers featured 16 teams each, whereas Europe had 32 teams. Division A teams were split in groups of four, to be held in a home-and-away round-robin. The top three teams in each groups advanced to round two, and the last placed teams played the best Division B teams to qualify for the next season's Division A. In round two of the World Cup qualifiers, teams were split in groups of six, totalling four groups in Europe and two in the other qualifiers. Teams carried over the points from round one, and faced other three teams again in a home-and-away round-robin. The best teams in each group qualified for the World Cup. Starting 2019, no wild card selection was held, and the Olympic champions were not guaranteed a spot in the tournament. The draw for the qualifiers was held on 7 May 2017 in Guangzhou.

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

debuted in the World Cup. Montenegro was formerly a part of

, and later,

teams, while the Czech Republic was a part of the old

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

was returning to the World Cup, after participating in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

were returning to the World Cup after missing out in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

were the teams that participated in 2014 that did not qualify in 2019.

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and the

qualified in 2019, continuing their streaks in participating in all World Cups.

Qualified teams

;

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

(5) * * * * * ;

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

(7) * * * * * *

* ; Asia and Oceania (8) * * (host) * * * * * * ;

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

(12) * * * * * * * * * *

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

* *

Squads

Each team had a final roster of 12 players; a team can opt to have one

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

player as per

FIBA eligibility rules As the governing body of basketball, FIBA is responsible for maintaining and implementing the rules that determine whether a basketball player is eligible to represent a particular country in officially recognized international competitions. Any pl ...

from its roster.

Referees

The following referees were selected for the tournament. * Gentian Cici (ALB) * Juan Fernández (ARG) * Leandro Lezcano¹ (ARG) * Leandro Zalazar (ARG) * Scott Beker (AUS) * James Boyer (AUS) * Ademir Zurapović (BIH) * Guilherme Locatelli (BRA) * Cristiano Maranho (BRA) * Martin Horozov (BUL) * Arnaud Kom Njilo (CMR) * Matthew Kallio (CAN) * Michael Weiland (CAN) * Felipe Ibarra (CHI) * Duan Zhu (CHN) * Ye Nan (CHN) * Yu Jung (TPE) * Carlos Peralta (ECU) * Yohan Rosso (FRA) * Carsten Straube (GER) * Georgios Poursanidis (GRE) * Harja Jaladri (INA) * Ahmed Al-Shuwaili (IRQ) * Saverio Lanzarini (ITA) * Manuel Mazzoni (ITA) * Tolga Şahin (ITA) * Takaki Kato (JPN) * Yevgeniy Mikheyev (KAZ) * Andris Aunkrogers (LVA) * Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LVA) * Omar Bermúdez (MEX) * Krishna Domínguez (MEX) * Ahmed Abaakil (MAR) * Kingsley Ojeaburu (NGA) * Julio Anaya (PAN) *

Ferdinand Pascual Ferdinand "Bong" Pascual (born July 30, 1970) is a Filipino basketball referee who has officiated in the FIBA World Cup and the Summer Olympics. He also served as a referee for the UNTV Cup and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ...

(PHI) * Wojciech Liszka (POL) * Michał Proc (POL) * Alexis Mercado (PUR) * Jorge Vázquez (PUR) * Roberto Vázquez (PUR) * Aleksandar Glišić (SRB) * Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK) * Boris Krejič (SVN) * Luis Castillo (ESP) * Antonio Conde¹ (ESP) * Hwang In-tae (KOR) * Kim Jong-kuk (KOR) * Markos Michaelides (SUI) * Nicolas Fernandes (TAH) * Yener Yılmaz (TUR) * Sergiy Zashchuk (UKR) * Steve Anderson (USA) * Matthew Myers (USA) * Andrés Bartel (URU) * Daniel García¹ (VEN) ¹ – Suspended after the match France vs. Lithuania.

Preparation games

Several teams participated in official tournaments or in exhibition ones, either ad hoc or already existing ones, to prepare for the World Cup.

Pan American Games

An official and traditional tournament in the Americas. Out of the eight teams from the tournament, five already qualified to the World Cup. Of these five, all except the

had players expected to be in the World Cup rosters, with the USA playing with collegiate players.

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

defeated

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

to win the gold medal.

Acropolis International Basketball Tournament

An exhibition tournament. All four participating teams used the Acropolis Tournament as a warm-up.

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

topped the table to win the championship, ahead of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Austiger Cup

An exhibition tournament. The four teams played in this tournament hosted by China as a warm-up to the World Cup. Serbia topped the table to win the championship, ahead of

Málaga Tournament

An exhibition tournament. Four teams participated in a preparation tournament hosted in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, Spain. It was contested by Spain, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, and the Philippines.

Other games

Exhibition games were held as warm-ups for the World Cup. The

defeated

in the

Honda Center Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, it w ...

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

, which was between the top two teams in the FIBA World Rankings.

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's defeat of the United States in Marvel Stadium,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in the 2019 Australian International Basketball series was the first USA team's loss with NBA players since its

2006 FIBA World Championship The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised b ...

semifinals loss to

. The USA is the second-youngest team in the tournament and features only two players with international experience. Notably the US is missing over 30 of their best players, who opted out either due to injury, or to prepare for the NBA season.

Format

The tournament was played in three stages. During the first stage, the 32 qualified teams were sorted into eight groups of four (A-H) and each team in a group played the other three teams once. The top two teams from each group then advanced to the second group stage. In the second group stage, there were four groups of four (I-L) made up of the teams that advanced from the first round, with the teams that have not yet played each other facing off against one another once. The top two teams from groups I to L will qualify for the final knockout phase. Classification rounds were revived after they were not held in

. They were traditionally held in every World Championship/World Cup and were last seen in action in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. In total, 92 games were played over a total of 16 days.

Draw

The draw took place on 16 March 2019 at

Shenzhen Cultural Center Shenzhen Cultural Center includes Shenzhen Concert Hall and Shenzhen Library and is located in the Futian district of Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China, China. It was designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. The Vineyard style ...

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

. Hosts China and the three best qualified teams as per the February 2019 FIBA World Rankings were seeded in Pot 1, and China and USA were assigned to groups A and E, respectively. The remaining 28 teams were allocated Pots 2-8 based on the 2019 FIBA World Ranking. Teams in pots 1, 4, 5 and 8 were drawn into Groups A, C, E and G, and Teams in pots 2, 3, 6 and 7 were drawn into Groups B, D, F and H. Aside from Europe, two teams from the same qualification zone could not be drawn into the same group. Canada was moved from Pot 5 to Pot 6, switching places with Iran (the best ranked team from that pot) to avoid having two teams from the Americas in the same group. FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Global Ambassadors

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

and

Yao Ming Yao Ming ( zh, c=姚明; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Baske ...

, American singer and songwriter

Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Since the start of his solo recording career in 2009, he has sold over 250 m ...

, and Chinese idol singer Yang Chaoyue led the draw ceremony. After the draw, Group H, which includes Australia, Canada, Lithuania, and Senegal, was described as the " group of death".

Groups A, C, E, and G

Groups B, D, F, and H

Preliminary round

2019 FIBA World Championship final rankings

Classification of teams

#Highest number of points earned, with each game result having a corresponding point: #*Win: 2 points #*Loss: 1 point #*Loss by default: 1 point, with a final score of 2–0 for the opponents of the defaulting team if the latter team is not trailing or if the score is tied, or the score at the time of stoppage if they are trailing. #*Loss by

forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from '' Wonder What's Next'' * '' Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers ...

: 0 points, with a final score of 20–0 for the opponents of the forfeiting team. #Head-to-head record via points system above #Point difference in games among tied teams #Points for in games among tied teams #Point difference in all group games #Points for in all group games Source: FIBA

Group A

Venue:

Wukesong Arena The Wukesong Arena (), also known as the Cadillac Arena () for sponsorship purposes, is a multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing. It was originally built for the 2008 Summer Olympics basketball preliminaries and finals. Ground was broken on 29 M ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Group B

Venue : Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium,

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

Group C

Venue:

Guangzhou Gymnasium The Guangzhou Gymnasium () is an indoor arena in Guangzhou. The arena is used as a concert venue and for sporting events such as arena football, basketball, badminton and table tennis. It was constructed between 11 February 1999 and opened on 3 ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Group D

Venue: Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center,

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

Group E

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Sports Center,

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Group F

Venue: Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park Gymnasium,

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Group G

Venue: Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre,

Group H

Venue: Dongfeng Nissan Cultural and Sports Centre,

Dongguan Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...

Second round

Group I

Venue: Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center,

Group J

Venue: Wuhan Sport Center Gymnasium,

Group K

Venue: Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre,

Group L

Venue: Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park Gymnasium,

17th–32nd Classification

Bottom 2 teams from each group in Round 1 played in the Classification Round.

Group M

Venue:

Group N

Venue:

Group O

Venue: Dongfeng Nissan Cultural and Sports Centre,

Group P

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Sports Center,

Final round

Quarter-finals

Argentina vs. Serbia

Spain vs. Poland

United States vs. France

Australia vs. Czech Republic

Classification semi-finals

Serbia vs. United States

Poland vs. Czech Republic

Semi-finals

Spain vs. Australia

Argentina vs. France

Seventh place playoff

Fifth place playoff

Third place playoff

Final

Final standings

Awards

The all-star team and MVP were announced on 15 September 2019.

All-Tournament Team

Statistical leaders

Player tournament averages

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Blocks

Steals

Minutes

Free throws

Field goal shooting

Double-doubles

Efficiency

Team tournament averages

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Blocks

Steals

Free throws

Field goal

Player game highs

Team game highs

Marketing

FIBA Basketball World Cup opening ceremony 3

Logo

The official logo of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was officially unveiled on 21 March 2017 in a ceremony held in

. The logo's concept was inspired from the

Beijing Opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...

where the actors symbolize concepts such as wisdom, persistence, power and perfection, which are prerequisite characteristics that the participating players of national team will need to exhibit "in order to succeed". The logo design was also inspired from the Chinese

Dragon Dance Dragon dance () is a form of traditional dance and performance in China, Chinese culture of China, culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen during festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of experienced dancers who man ...

, a cultural tradition depicting a story of two flying dragons battling over a shining pearl which is meant to parallel the competition of national teams for the Naismith Trophy. The logo was created by Shanghai-based agency Flagship.

Mascot

An international mascot design competition was organized with the winning mascot chosen by fans. Yan Xu's design, a Chinese Dragon-inspired mascot named Son of Dreams, was announced to be the winning mascot on 18 April 2018. Son of Dreams was born in China on 8 August 2015 one day after China was announced as the host according to the mascot's fictional biography. The magical horns of the mascot is described as having the ability to give the dragon "the power to see in the future, envisioning plays and moves before they actually happen". He wears a red and blue uniform with the tournament's logo and high tops by China's top player

. The mascot was chosen over other finalists Speed Tiger who was inspired by a Siberian tiger and QiuQiu (a.k.a. Little Lightning) who was inspired by a Chinese lion. The official mascot made his first public appearance on 28 June 2018 in

Ball

On 16 March 2019,

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

revealed the official ball that would be used in the World Cup, Molten BG5000, designed by Molten.

Official song

The song "Champion" was released on 24 July 2019, and performed by American singer-songwriter

featuring Chinese singer Tia Ray. It was performed both in English and the host language Chinese.

Issues and concerns

There were concerns from national federations that they would not be able to play the qualifiers with players from top professional leagues globally (the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

), which was possible with professional leagues operating in mid-year.

Broadcasters

The television rights holders by territory as follows:

Controversy

Australian center and NBA champion Andrew Bogut voiced concerns on the officiating in the semi-final match against Spain. During the match after a call he disagreed with, Bogut was seen gesturing with his hands that the officials had been bribed. Post-match, he claimed that it was a "disgrace" and encouraged people to look into where the headquarters are based. 3-time NBA champion and Australian assistant coach was less accusative but also cited their run of luck with officiating when the two sides meet. Patrick Mills was also controversially snubbed from the All-Star Five. Even being told he had been in the five before being omitted. Many fans and journalists felt that Mills should have been part of the All-Star Five.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Basketball, World Cup, 2019

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

2019 in Chinese sport World Cup, 2019