Everything you need to know about the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup

NBA free agency has died down and the 2023-24 NBA season isnearly three months away. This is why August is known as the dogdays of the NBA calendar.

However, NBA fans will be able to watch some of their favoriteplayers in action very soon, as the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cuptips off tomorrow.

From Nov. 2021 through Feb. 2023, 80 countries battled for aspot in the World Cup but only 32 national teams qualified. Thereare a ton of NBA players participating, as Team USA has a talentedyoung roster and they'll be facing stars such as Luka Doncic,Karl-Anthony Towns, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lauri Markkanen andRudy Gobert.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2023 FIBABasketball World Cup.

WHEN ISIT?

World Cup games will be played Aug. 25 through Sept. 10. Therehave been a number of warm-up games in recent weeks, but the realaction tips off tomorrow.

First Round (Group Phase): Aug. 25-30Second Round (Group Phase): Aug. 31 - Sept. 4Quarterfinals: Sept. 5-6Semifinals: Sept. 8Final: Sept. 10Third-Place Game: Sept. 10

The full schedule of games can be foundhere.

WHERE ISIT?

For the first time ever, the FIBA Basketball World Cup willfeature three host countries: the Philippines, Japan andIndonesia.

WHICH COUNTRIESQUALIFIED?

These are the 32 countries that will be participating in the2023 FIBA World Cup: Angola, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde,China, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland, France,Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Latvia,Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Philippines,Puerto Rico, Serbia, Slovenia, South Sudan, Spain, United Statesand Venezuela.

These are the groups for the first round:

Group A:Angola, Dominican Republic,Philippines, Italy

Group B:South Sudan, Serbia, China,Puerto Rico

(Groups A and B will play their games at Araneta Coliseum inthePhilippines)

Group C:Team USA, Jordan, Greece, NewZealand

Group D:Egypt, Mexico, Montenegro,Lithuania

(Groups C and D will play their games at Mall of Asia Arenain thePhilippines)

Group E:Germany, Finland, Australia,Japan

Group F:Slovenia, Cape Verde, Georgia,Venezuela

(Groups E and F will play their games at Okinawa Arena inJapan)

Group G:Iran, Spain, Cote d’Ivoire,Brazil

Group H:Canada, Latvia, Lebanon,France

(Groups G and H will play their games at Jakarta Arena inIndonesia)

WHICH NBA PLAYERS ARECOMPETING?

There are quite a few NBA players participating in thistournament. The full list can be found here, butbelow are the national teams that feature notable NBA players:

Group A

Dominican Republic: Karl-Anthony Towns(Minnesota Timberwolves), Lester Quinones (Golden StateWarriors)

Philippines: Jordan Clarkson(UtahJazz)

Group B

China: Kyle Anderson(MinnesotaTimberwolves)

Serbia: Bogdan Bogdanovic (Atlanta Hawks),Aleksej Pokusevski (Oklahoma City Thunder), Nikola Jovic (MiamiHeat)

Group C

Greece: Thanasis Antetokounmpo (MilwaukeeBucks)

United States: Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic),Mikal Bridges (Brooklyn Nets), Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks),Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Tyrese Haliburton(Indiana Pacers), Josh Hart (New York Knicks), Brandon Ingram (NewOrleans Pelicans), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), CameronJohnson (Brooklyn Nets), Walker Kessler (Utah Jazz), Bobby Portis(Milwaukee Bucks), Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers)

Group D

Lithuania: Jonas Valanciunas (New OrleansPelicans)

Montenegro: Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls)

Group E

Australia: Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder),Patty Mills (Atlanta Hawks), Matisse Thybulle (Portland TrailBlazers) Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks), Joe Ingles (Orlando Magic),Dyson Daniels (New Orleans Pelicans), Dante Exum (DallasMavericks), Jock Landale (Houston Rockets), Xavier Cooks(Washington Wizards)

Finland: Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz)

Germany: Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic), DennisSchroder (Toronto Raptors), Moritz Wagner (Orlando Magic), DanielTheis (Indiana Pacers),

Japan: Yuta Watanabe (Phoenix Suns)

Group F

Georgia: Goga Bitadze (Orlando Magic), SandroMamukelashvili (San Antonio Spurs)

Slovenia: Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks)

Group G

Brazil: Raul Neto (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Spain: Santi Aldama (Memphis Grizzlies), UsmanGaruba (Atlanta Hawks)

Group H

Canada: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma CityThunder), R.J. Barrett (New York Knicks), Dillon Brooks (HoustonRockets), Lu Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder), Nickeil Alexander-Walker(Minnesota Timberwolves), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks)

France: Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves),Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers), Evan Fournier (New YorkKnicks), Frank Ntilikina (Charlotte Hornets)

Latvia: Davis Bertans (Oklahoma CityThunder)

HOW TOWATCH

FIBA recently announced that all 92 World Cup games will beavailable across ESPN's platforms. Six games will air on ESPN2(including Team USA's three first-round games), while the other 86games will be available on ESPN+.

FIBA’s official streaming service, Courtside 1891, will also air the games live andon-demand. If you're interested in Courtside 1891, FIBA is offeringour readers 20% off their World Cup bundle. Follow the instructionsbelow if you'd like to use the 20% discount:

Click this link and you’ll get aprompt to registerYou’ll then be redirected to the choose-a-package pageSelect the ‘Max – World Cup Bundle’Use the discount code FIBAWCAK to get 20%off

Enjoy the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and hopefully the dogdays of summer will fly by quickly!