Three Hawks representing home countries in 2023 FIBA World Cup

By: KL Chouinard

Bogdan Bogdanovic, Patty Mills, and Bruno Fernando are slated to begin play in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup this weekend. 

The 32-team tournament begins Friday and runs through Sep. 10. The first portion of the event features group play with the field broken into groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each of the eight groups advance to play in the next phase, which amounts to a 16-team, single-elimination event (with the inclusion of additional games among the top-eight teams to determine the exact finish from 1st place to 8th place).

For the first time in the event's history, the tourney is spread across three different host nations: the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. 

Bogdanovic will lead Serbia into battle in Group B in Manila. They face each of the teams in their group once over the next week: China on Saturday, Puerto Rico on Monday, and South Sudan on Wednesday. 

Serbia finished fifth in the previous iteration of the same event in 2019, although that team included two-time NBA MVP and reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic, who is resting this summer after Denver's long playoff run. Nevertheless, Bogdanovic will have the help of some longtime Serbian team stalwarts like Nikola Milutinov as well as some rising young stars like Nikola Jovic of the Miami Heat.

Serbia went 4-1 over the past month in friendly warmup matches leading up to the World Cup. Bogdanovic averaged 15.8 points per game over that stretch, including a 19-point effort in a win over the same Chinese team that they face Saturday.

Mills and Australia play in Okinawa in a deep Group E alongside Germany, Finland and Japan. Australia finished in fourth place in the event in 2019, and Mills will be joined on the roster by a number of NBA players, including Josh Giddey, Matisse Thybulle, Dyson Daniels, and Joe Ingles. 

Australia went 4-1 in their friendlies, while Mills averaged 9.4 points per game in those contests. They face Finland on Friday, Germany on Sunday, and host country Japan on Tuesday. 

The Hawks acquired Mills, a 14-year NBA veteran and 2014 NBA Champion, in a July 12 trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mills also helped Australia win a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Australia’s first medal in their Olympic men’s basketball history.

Angola returns to the event for a ninth time, with Fernando leading the way in the paint. They play in Group A in Manila, facing Italy in the tournament's first game Friday, followed by a match against host country the Philippines Sunday, and finishing against the Dominican Republic Tuesday. 

Fernando had 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks in Angola's final tuneup before the tournament, a 75-65 loss to Japan in Tokyo.

While Bogdanovic and Mills are certainly aiming for the top spot on the podium for their teams this summer, they would probably not mind a repeat of their individual performances from 2019. Bogdanovic led the event with 183 total points scored and Mills finished second with 182. It should be quite a sight to see the two snipers resume international play this week.