Gold Medalist Questions the NBA Champs Being Deemed "World" Champs

[the sea duck]

the nba is an international league that just happens to play in the US (and Canada). very few players in the world good enough to make the nba aren't in the nba. the nba champs are essentially the world champs whether we call them that or not. so if someone wants to call them that, go ahead.

if a non-nba team wants the title, build a resume worthy of contention and then beat the nba champs.

But that's the thing: There is no means to do that.

And I'm not advocating for that in the slightest. European basketball is a step above college basketball but obviously vastly inferior to the NBA, which thanks to the prestige, competition and paychecks has an overwhelming monopoly on the world's best players. Beating their best team for an official title isn't something I think or care about. NBA teams would win almost every time and none of our fans would care in the slightest.

But that's the key point: Almost every time. Because as we see over and over again in our professional playoffs, foreign football cups and especially the NCAA tournament, inferior teams upset superior ones all the time. In the NCAA tournament, for example, No. 2 seeds win "only" 93 pct of the time in the 1st round. Utter dominance, but far from total.

Obviously it would depend on format. If you turn it into a short series rather than a one-off, their chances drop dramatically. Then you need to get into which rule set we're using. But no matter how superior you are in any given field, until you've actually proven it on the field of play you shouldn't be claiming any crown.

start up the McDonald's Championship again then. it wasn't the nba's fault that it stopped.

[Bornstellar]

The Spurs have always recognized this. It's why all of their banners say NBA Champions and not World Champions

I said banners

Interesting to note that not all of their rings say world though. The 07 ring only says NBA Champions

[Sedale Threatt]

The Spurs have always recognized this. It's why all of their banners say NBA Champions and not World Champions

I said banners

Interesting to note that not all of their rings say world though. The 07 ring only says NBA Champions

For sure. But even the lily-white, morally-pure Spurs are moderately guilty of this heinous crime.

[LuDux1]

I mean, the team that wins the World Cup is quite literally the World Champion. The team that wins the Olympics is the Olympics Champion and can also call themselves a World Champion since the Olympics are a world tournament.

In both cases, though, we're talking about national teams. Both of those tournaments are national teams only. There isn't a similar competition for professional basketball clubs.

Technically there is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_FIBA_Intercontinental_Cup_(Tenerife)

Huh, I had no idea. But, as you said, technically is the key point here. Teams from all continents are indeed represented so it is a true world championship but due to the animosity between FIBA and the NBA/EuroLeague, teams from those competitions aren't included. Therefore, the championship doesn't have a lot of prestige so people don't even know that it exists.

Thanks for the info, though. It's always good to learn new things

"Fun" fact: in this tournament in 1986 Sabonis suffered first serious injury that eventually led to ruptures because of lack of load management

[ChumboChappati]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Thoughts?

he is right. In no other sports, a league champion is also called a world champion and the NBA should be the same.

[Nuntius]

The NBA is just what you explained. A team of athletes from every continent around the world. It's the highest level of competition and the teams actually play together and aren't just a summer fun camp.

See my PS. Basketball is a team sport. Therefore, the teams included in that championship have to represent every continent.

And, again, being the highest level of competition DOES NOT MATTER. It is NOT part of the defition.

Why would you represent anything but your team? What does a tectonic plate have to do with anything? And does that mean Russia has to field two teams since they cross two continents? That's just a completely arbitrary thing you're putting up.

Because that's what these particular terms mean. Obviously, language evolves but it evolves in its own pace. And, more importantly, it evolves in the way that its speakers want. If the people decide to move away from a world where the term "world champion" in team sports is intimately entwined with national teams then they'll do so. But this is not where we are at right now.

[Nuntius]

Technically there is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_FIBA_Intercontinental_Cup_(Tenerife)

Huh, I had no idea. But, as you said, technically is the key point here. Teams from all continents are indeed represented so it is a true world championship but due to the animosity between FIBA and the NBA/EuroLeague, teams from those competitions aren't included. Therefore, the championship doesn't have a lot of prestige so people don't even know that it exists.

Thanks for the info, though. It's always good to learn new things

"Fun" fact: in this tournament in 1986 Sabonis suffered first serious injury that eventually led to ruptures because of lack of load management

Man, that is pretty tragic

[Biff]

Today the NBA is an international league and all the best international players play in the NBA. And while international teams now give team USA trouble, if our best players were brought up in the international system and trained together from a young age, there wouldn't be much of a contest. The gap has been narrowed a lot but the United States still overwhelmingly has the most talent. Chemistry and effort is usually our problem.

And if you sent the NBA champion to the Olympics and gave them enough time to practice with international rules, they would probably be favorites to win gold. Wouldn't have the chemistry issues of team USA and should still have more talent than everyone else.

[dhsilv2]

See my PS. Basketball is a team sport. Therefore, the teams included in that championship have to represent every continent.

And, again, being the highest level of competition DOES NOT MATTER. It is NOT part of the defition.

Why would you represent anything but your team? What does a tectonic plate have to do with anything? And does that mean Russia has to field two teams since they cross two continents? That's just a completely arbitrary thing you're putting up.

Because that's what these particular terms mean. Obviously, language evolves but it evolves in its own pace. And, more importantly, it evolves in the way that its speakers want. If the people decide to move away from a world where the term "world champion" in team sports is intimately entwined with national teams then they'll do so. But this is not where we are at right now.

Meanwhile we keep calling the NBA champs the world champs. A term that's been used for the NBA champion as long as I can recall. You can't base an argument on "that's now how it's done" when the whole topic starts with who the NBA has pretty much always been the basketball world champion and called it as such.

[Nuntius]

The NBA is just what you explained. A team of athletes from every continent around the world. It's the highest level of competition and the teams actually play together and aren't just a summer fun camp.

See my PS. Basketball is a team sport. Therefore, the teams included in that championship have to represent every continent.

And, again, being the highest level of competition DOES NOT MATTER. It is NOT part of the defition.

Why would you represent anything but your team? What does a tectonic plate have to do with anything? And does that mean Russia has to field two teams since they cross two continents? That's just a completely arbitrary thing you're putting up.

I didn't make the rules. That's just how sports have been organized for such a long time and the people do not seem intend to change it. So, it's just not going to change.

As for Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Egypt, Colombia and other transcontinental teams, they can generally pick and choose which region they want to compete in.

[Nuntius]

Why would you represent anything but your team? What does a tectonic plate have to do with anything? And does that mean Russia has to field two teams since they cross two continents? That's just a completely arbitrary thing you're putting up.

Because that's what these particular terms mean. Obviously, language evolves but it evolves in its own pace. And, more importantly, it evolves in the way that its speakers want. If the people decide to move away from a world where the term "world champion" in team sports is intimately entwined with national teams then they'll do so. But this is not where we are at right now.

Meanwhile we keep calling the NBA champs the world champs. A term that's been used for the NBA champion as long as I can recall. You can't base an argument on "that's now how it's done" when the whole topic starts with who the NBA has pretty much always been the basketball world champion and called it as such.

You can keep calling it however you like. You are free to do what you want.

Other people are free to consider this a bit silly.

And others are free to not care at all.

Personally, I fall into the third camp. I'm not going to tell anyone to change the way they call something, especially when it's something that doesn't hurt anyone.

[dhsilv2]

Because that's what these particular terms mean. Obviously, language evolves but it evolves in its own pace. And, more importantly, it evolves in the way that its speakers want. If the people decide to move away from a world where the term "world champion" in team sports is intimately entwined with national teams then they'll do so. But this is not where we are at right now.

Meanwhile we keep calling the NBA champs the world champs. A term that's been used for the NBA champion as long as I can recall. You can't base an argument on "that's now how it's done" when the whole topic starts with who the NBA has pretty much always been the basketball world champion and called it as such.

You can keep calling it however you like. You are free to do what you want.

Other people are free to consider this a bit silly.

And others are free to not care at all.

Personally, I fall into the third camp. I'm not going to tell anyone to change the way they call something, especially when it's something that doesn't hurt anyone.

There a clear disagreement with how this should be addressed. Thus why I've taken this from a pure logic perspective. Thus why I think the NBA champion is the only reasonable and logical champ.

People are welcome to be wrong and call a NATIONAL team championship a world champion, but that methodology doesn't make sense for a true "world champ" in 2023. Doesn't really make sense for other sports now that sports are such huge money. It's a nice format for non profit making sports.

[chitownsports4ever]

Noah is the latest case of when trying to be smart goes wrong ......

His comments may have had some relevance if he chose another sport but by by choosing the nba he just looks foolish

He won a gold at the world games but you dont have to represent a country to do so and many athletes have competed without representing a "country".

The World Championships are simply considered the highest level of competition for outdoor track and field events in the world and the NBA is considered the highest level of mens basketball competition in the world .

In the Olympics and FIBA a team is chosen to represent the country made of citizens of that country which is what's going on right now in FIBA but that is not considered the best basketball in the world .

Basic premise but horrible example

[Nuntius]

Meanwhile we keep calling the NBA champs the world champs. A term that's been used for the NBA champion as long as I can recall. You can't base an argument on "that's now how it's done" when the whole topic starts with who the NBA has pretty much always been the basketball world champion and called it as such.

You can keep calling it however you like. You are free to do what you want.

Other people are free to consider this a bit silly.

And others are free to not care at all.

Personally, I fall into the third camp. I'm not going to tell anyone to change the way they call something, especially when it's something that doesn't hurt anyone.

There a clear disagreement with how this should be addressed. Thus why I've taken this from a pure logic perspective. Thus why I think the NBA champion is the only reasonable and logical champ.

People are welcome to be wrong and call a NATIONAL team championship a world champion, but that methodology doesn't make sense for a true "world champ" in 2023. Doesn't really make sense for other sports now that sports are such huge money. It's a nice format for non profit making sports.

And I will say this again. That is the definition that the majority of people around the world use. You are free to consider it wrong and propose your own alternative definition. That's your right.

What you cannot really do is to attempt to enforce your definition upon others.

[Evenacus]

The NBA plays in the US and Canada, but it is truly a world league consisting of the best players from around the world. Until this changes, I see nothing wrong with random 3rd parties using this term. As far as I know the NBA itself does not.

The FIBA/Olympic championships are just an exhibition meant to help popularize the sport wrapped around each nation's flag to fool people in to caring about it. If all we had were national teams and they played together full time and got their salary from the competitions, it would be something else, but it's not.

What the f*** did I just read here? Olympic games just an exibition ment to help popularize the sport wrapped around each nation's flag. Your view here is extremely skewered and indicates a lack of knowledge of the Olympics in general. Almost all nations in the World ( barring political issues) attempt to qualify for the Olympic games in any sport. Almost every athlete in the world dreams of winning a gold medal in the Olympics.
What about the values of the Olympics and the philosophy and views they promote. I guess you are not too familiar with the history of the Olympics and the ideals they promote to word your argument in the manner of " fooling people into caring by using national flags". Once again, I am truly surprised by this view

[dhsilv2]

You can keep calling it however you like. You are free to do what you want.

Other people are free to consider this a bit silly.

And others are free to not care at all.

Personally, I fall into the third camp. I'm not going to tell anyone to change the way they call something, especially when it's something that doesn't hurt anyone.

There a clear disagreement with how this should be addressed. Thus why I've taken this from a pure logic perspective. Thus why I think the NBA champion is the only reasonable and logical champ.

People are welcome to be wrong and call a NATIONAL team championship a world champion, but that methodology doesn't make sense for a true "world champ" in 2023. Doesn't really make sense for other sports now that sports are such huge money. It's a nice format for non profit making sports.

And I will say this again. That is the definition that the majority of people around the world use. You are free to consider it wrong and propose your own alternative definition. That's your right.

What you cannot really do is to attempt to enforce your definition upon others.

You can keep saying that "most" people...which is an arbitrary term. But you can neither back that opinion up nor would it really mean much. If you could argue that an overwhelming majority, 90% plus, then sure. But I think you'd have a really hard time making a case that the NBA champion is not the world champ to the majority of people on this planet. Now, I'm also guessing, but I'd be willing to bet more people in the world know about the NBA than the FIBA world basketball tournament. Mind you...if you want a majority of people, you really are just saying "we need a majority of china and india..."

[Hugi Mancura]

Well, me and mine friend were having a running competition in our backyard and I won, so I must be world champ now in 100m dash. And we will do it next year too, but we won't allow anyone else to participate.

NBA is a closed league which dictates who can participate and who can't. To be able to call a winner world champs should mean that everyone can try to win. NBA doesn't allow that. They don't even allow rest of the US to participate. So for me this is a joke, but also don't really care what local league does.

[Fadeaway_Jumper]

Soccer Clubs like Barcelona & Real Madrid assemble the best talent in the world and are usually better than any other club in the world, but don’t call themselves world champions when they win.

It’s an American center of the universe way of thinking

[Nuntius]

He won a gold at the world games but you dont have to represent a country to do so and many athletes have competed without representing a "country".

The World Championships are simply considered the highest level of competition for outdoor track and field events in the world and the NBA is considered the highest level of mens basketball competition in the world .

Technically, you are correct that athletes have competed without representing a country. But to compete like that they have to get special authorization and that usually only happens under special circumstances. An example of those circumstances is when the athlete's country has been banned from participating in the competition. You see it a lot with Russian athletes right now. Russia cannot compete in those competitions for obvious reasons but some athletes from Russia have competed under the "Authorized Neutral Athletes" flag.

And saying that the country that an athlete represents doesn't matter in those World Championships is simply inaccurate. There is a reason why the medal table exists, there is a reason why they track how many medals each country won in that competition, there is a reason why there is an all-time medal table, there is a reason why national records exist and so on.

In fact, the country and the region that each athlete represents has a direct impact on how easy or hard it is for them to qualify for those competitions. They usually first have to go through national-level games then continental-level games and only then can they go through the major World events. It is of major importance.

[thejigglyroom]

You can keep calling it however you like. You are free to do what you want.

Other people are free to consider this a bit silly.

And others are free to not care at all.

Personally, I fall into the third camp. I'm not going to tell anyone to change the way they call something, especially when it's something that doesn't hurt anyone.

There a clear disagreement with how this should be addressed. Thus why I've taken this from a pure logic perspective. Thus why I think the NBA champion is the only reasonable and logical champ.

People are welcome to be wrong and call a NATIONAL team championship a world champion, but that methodology doesn't make sense for a true "world champ" in 2023. Doesn't really make sense for other sports now that sports are such huge money. It's a nice format for non profit making sports.

And I will say this again. That is the definition that the majority of people around the world use. You are free to consider it wrong and propose your own alternative definition. That's your right.

What you cannot really do is to attempt to enforce your definition upon others.

Totally agree. If teams want to refer to themselves as World Champs, do what you gotta do. I personally won’t but oh well. This reminds of when some people outside the US got butthurt over People from the US being referred to as Americans instead of something like United Statesians (which sounds insanely stupid). If someone wants to call me that, knock yourself. Same thing with teams calling themselves World Champs.

Don’t curr

[/rant]