NBA All-World

Do teams need NBA players to win international events?

BEFORE THE ORIGINAL Dream Team romped through the 1992 Olympics, NBA players were a rarity in international competition. Now they're regulars, and reflecting the game's global spread, they don't just play for the U.S. Uncle Sam still dominates—going 9--0 to win gold on Sunday with a 129--92 win over Serbia—but other countries are closing the gap. This chart tracks the number of NBA players on rosters at every FIBA World Cup and Olympics since '92 and where those teams finished, among teams that finished in the top three at least once.

[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]

Tournament Results

11 NBA players

12 players

5 players

4 players

6 players

1 players

2 players

3 players

0 players

1992

1994

1996

1998*

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

ARGENTINA

CROATIA

FRANCE

GERMANY

GREECE

ITALY

LITHUANIA

RUSSIA

SPAIN

TURKEY

UNITED STATES

YUGOSLAVIA

SERBIA

*NBA LOCKOUT YEAR

CHART

TREVOR LAZARUS (CHART)