Egoless basketball of '12 starters' key to USA's adjustment to FIBA games

As teams chase for the gold medal in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, national federations put up the 12 best basketball players of their respective countries to compete in the global basketball stage.

While the process may sound easy for a country like the USA where there are a lot of stars, the problem actually starts when you put the usual NBA starters to bench roles.

Thankfully, USA basketball players understand their roles in the team.

"That's the message from Day One that this is not the NBA, this is FIBA.  We're gonna need all twelve. It's gonna be a different guy every night," USA head coach Steve Kerr said in a press conference following their 99-72 win against New Zealand on Saturday.

Read more | Who’s in? Who’s out?: A list of NBA players playing in the 2023 FIBA World Cup

Kerr particularly praised Paolo Banchero and the rest of their second unit who battled after they trailed by ten points early in the game.

Banchero paced the Americans with 21 points in a game where 54 of the USA's 99 points came from the bench.

"We feel good about that. Every game that we've had, that whole group of Austin [Reaves] and Tyrese [Haliburton], the ball movement, change of pace that we have with that group is really fun to watch."

For Reaves, this is the result of what he called "egoless" basketball.

Austin Reaves talks about Team USA's egoless basketball #FIBAWC @gmasportsph @gmanews pic.twitter.com/1P7ufcE0Tc

— JK Carandang (@jk_carandang) August 27, 2023

"I guess it starts from the top. You know Steve, he's preached a million times that our depth is gonna be able to wear teams down but we just have to keep sticking with what we're doing," the Los Angeles Lakers standout said on Sunday in their practice when asked about how they managed to overcome their first quarter jitters during their match against New Zealand.

"The talent that we have is obviously second to none. We got 12 guys on this team, they're all starters in the NBA and on top of that, we're egoless. Everybody put their ego aside to come together for the greater good and that's to win."

Team USA will continue their campaign in the FIBA World Cup against Greece next on Sunday.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News