SINGAPORE (Singapore) - Some past, current and future NBA players are joining forces to try and win the FIBA Intercontinental Cup this September.
The NBA G League United team was assembled to give the international rivals and fans a taste of the American game, while also providing a valuable learning experience for the players on the team ahead of a busy season.
Who are they?
The NBA G League started being represented in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup by its champions in 2019, with the Austin Spurs and Rio Grande Valley Vipers finishing fourth in the first two editions.
The first NBA G League win was registered in 2022, as the Lakeland Magic finished third in the Final Four format, while the Vipers repeated that result a year later.
In September 2023, Team Ignite took fifth place at the first ever FIBA Intercontinental Cup event to be held in Singapore, but it turned out to be their first and last appearance as the project was terminated earlier this year.
The NBA G League came up with an entirely different plan to fill up its spot in this year's Intercontinental Cup. Instead of the champions or the rising stars within one club, they put together the NBA G League United team to represent the league in various domestic and international games.
The FIBA Intercontinental Cup in 2024 will be their biggest challenge to date.
How did they get here?
They took the spot belonging to the NBA G League. They arrive in Singapore following a short pre-season, including a warm-up event called the NBA G League Fall Invitational, where they faced the Serbian prospect factory Mega MIS - better know in the US as Nikola Jokic's former team.
G League United out on a show of force across two games, winning them by a combined point differential of 51 points.
In the first one, the G League representatives pulled away in the fourth quarter to claim a 99-81 win, while the second one started with United opening up a double-digit lead early on in the game and never looking back in a 99-66 victory.
They showed a lot of potential to be a highly competitive team once they arrive in Singapore. With some of the names on the team and the kind of performance they put on against Mega, it's evident that G League United won't settle for just a win or two at the Intercontinental Cup. They want to win it all under coach Paul Hewitt.
Why should we watch them?
Some of the players from last season's NBA G League representative ended up getting drafted earlier this summer, and that remains the appeal for watching these guys play.
This year's G League team is more experienced than Team Ignite where last year, especially with a leader such as Juan Toscano-Anderson. The Mexican-American forward helped the Golden State Warriors win the NBA championship in 2022, and after playing in more than 200 NBA games throughout his career, the 31-year-old is set for a new challenge in Singapore.
The two games against Mega also pointed towards a potential top scorer of the Singapore competition. Brodric Thomas was on fire, getting 17 points in Game 1, and following it with 18 points in just 13 minutes of work in Game 2 against the Serbs.
Thomas has played in 44 NBA games so far, more than half of those with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020-21.
Taze Moore will run the point for the team as a big guard, standing at 1.95m (6'5''), the Japanese Olympian Keisei Tominaga provides the shooting touch off the bench, while Rob Baker takes care of business on both ends of the floor as the big guy.
Overall, these players have a lot of similar experiences, having rock solid college careers, being in and out of the NBA, and shining in the G League. Aside from the team motivation to show what the G League grit and grind is all about, these players will have a lot of personal motivation to outperform the professionals from other sides of the world.
Who will they play in Singapore?
They tip it off against the Basketball Champions League Americas winners Quimsa on September 12, before enjoying a quick day off and returning to the court on September 14, to face the Australian NBL champions, Tasmania JackJumpers.
If they win the group, they will play the Final on September 15. If they finish second, they move to the Third-Place Game. If they end the group stage behind both Quimsa and the JackJumpers, they will be in the battle for fifth place on the final day of action.