Greg Popovich Agrees That NBA Champions Are Not The "World Champions"

[R.I.P.]

If Team USA didn

[triangleoffense]

It's clearly world champion. NBA is the preeminent premiere league of basketball in the world. The NBA champion would wipe the floor with every international FIBA there out there short of the American team so yes I would call them world champs.

[Cangri]

It's clearly world champion. NBA is the preeminent premiere league of basketball in the world. The NBA champion would wipe the floor with every international FIBA there out there short of the American team so yes I would call them world champs.

This, no team out there would beat the NBA champions in a 7 game series.

[ThemBombs]

we are the defending FIBA and Olympic champions, the champs can call themselves whatever the flying **** they want, dickwad

[Nash]

In order for them to be world champions, teams from all over the world should have the opportunity to participate.

[shadow]

I agree with Pop, It makes no sense to say world champion. Even if the NBA is the premiere league in the world, it's still not the same thing as if it were an actual international competition. It just reeks of arrogance to claim that.

I know a couple of people said that no team can beat the NBA champions...well consider that last year's champions would be without their best player who would be playing for Germany & the champs for two years before that would be lost without their second best player who'd be playing for the Spanish team. It's not that simple.

[Rameek]

Yeah.... you can't be the world champions of something that's only played in 2 countries. Yes they probably are the best club team in the world. But they haven't won a world championship. I don't like how American teams do that. MLB can though, cos no one else gives a shit about baseball.

[COLOR="Navy"]Wrong on the baseball front. Baseball has the world baseball classic which is still in its infancy but each country brings a team in and that decides who the world champion is. Baseball isnt a World Series per se it should have been MLB or North America Series initally. Currently MLB is an international sport unlike basketball.

World wide no one gives a crap if an American basketball champion calls themselves world champions. Americans in general are xenophobes when it comes to sports and most things in general.

You definitely couldnt get away with it in Football because thats truly an international sport like baseball. Countries have been playing these sports longer than basketball, similar to American Football.[/COLOR]

[niko]

Anyone who thinks this is some sort of "problem" that needs to be rectified is a moron. 100%.

[vinvin01]

Well Pop is right. This has nothing to do with NBA being the best league in the world (because NBA is the best league in the world there's no doubt about it).

It's just that the World Champion is the best national team in the world. I mean, the team that wins Euroleague is not Europe Champion, it's Euroleague champion (team that wins Eurobasket is Europe Champion) : Mavs might be better than the Spanish national team, but that doesn't make them world champion.

How can people argue that another team that the team winning the World Championship is "world champion" ?

[dunksby]

The title "World Champions" for winning a domestic league is so obnoxious it's not even funny. You wanna call someone the World Champion you address Kevin Durant as that.

[k0kakw0rld]

NBA: Where the best players in the world play

It might be not true

[ZenMaster]

It's clearly world champion. NBA is the preeminent premiere league of basketball in the world. The NBA champion would wipe the floor with every international FIBA there out there short of the American team so yes I would call them world champs.

Pure speculation on your part.

I doubt any NBA team can hang with the Spanish national team playing FIBA rules.

[GOBB]

Yeah if the rules are under FIBA you cant just assume the NBA champ would beat whatever champ team it is overseas.

It might be not true

No, its true. Kobe wouldnt go overseas to play but Dirk would come to America and play. As long as the NBA is up and running its the league most players want to play in. Otherwise Ricky Rubio would have stayed home. Unfortunately he is in America. Hey how'd he get here?

[ZenMaster]

Yeah if the rules are under FIBA you cant just assume the NBA champ would beat whatever champ team it is overseas.



No, its true. Kobe wouldnt go overseas to play but Dirk would come to America and play. As long as the NBA is up and running its the league most players want to play in. Otherwise Ricky Rubio would have stayed home. Unfortunately he is in America. Hey how'd he get here?

While the majority do, not all the worlds best players play in the NBA.

[dunksby]

List of the current World Champions for reference: