It appears that Draymond Green already got his main offseason plan, and possibly representing the proud colors of the United States in this year’s FIBA World Cup stands as one in his checklist.
Right at his postgame presser in the Golden State Warriors’ Game 6 exit against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, Green hinted that potentially playing in the World Cup is one of his targets heading to the offseason.
“Travel a little bit, refill the cup, possibly play FIBA – we will see; work my ass off and be better next year – that’s some of my priorities,” Green said about his plans moving forward as the Warriors came up short to their title defense against the Lakers.
Green donned Team USA jerseys in the last two Olympics – helping his nation to clinch gold medal finishes for both 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2020 in Tokyo.
As such, a FIBA medal and participation remain nonexistent in his collection of overseas accolades.
Should he elects to participate, he will play once again under Steve Kerr, who assumed the program’s head coaching gig after succeeding Gregg Popovich.
Per Joe Vardon of The Athletic, at least two anonymous NBA players with experience on the international tilts have already expressed their commitment to play in the World Cup for the U.S. He also reported that Kerr reached out to Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Alex Caruso to possibly play for the country’s basketball glory.
The FIBA World Rankings’ no. 2 rated country in the United States is slated to play in Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena as the banner team of Group C, with Greece, New Zealand and Jordan set to battle them in group phase of the tourney. The Americans are looking to bounce back from their humiliating seventh-placed finish in the previous 2019 World Championships in China.
The 2023 FIBA World Cup, hosted by Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, will take place from Aug. 25 to Sep. 10.