International basketball competitions are usually quite exciting and attract attention from all over the world. Some basketball events seem to attract the most attention and have the highest number of teams participating. This is why they are rated as top competitions. Four of the top international competitions are highlighted below.
FIBA Basketball World Cup
The FIBA Basketball World Cup is usually contested by the men’s national basketball teams that are members of FIBA. FIBA is the global governing body of basketball. The competition is typically the flagship event of the International Basketball Federation. The structure of the tournament has many similarities to the FIFA World Cup. Currently, the format involves 32 competing teams. The winning team is awarded the Naismith Trophy, which was first awarded back in 1967.
FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup
The FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, previously known as the FIBA World Championship for Women, is quite similar to that of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, with the main difference being that only women’s teams get to participate. Before 2014, it used to be held in the same year as the men’s World Cup, but in a different country.
Olympics
The Olympics is another major international event in which international basketball teams get to participate. It is held after every four years and features qualifying teams from all over the world. Teams of the hosting nation and the world champions do not have to participate in the qualifiers. The tournament usually features both the men and women teams, each participating differently.
EuroBasket
Also referred to as European Basketball Championship, EuroBasket is the leading international competition governed by FIBA Europe. It is contested once every four years by the senior men’s national basketball teams. For the final competition, the number of teams that take part is 24. Initially, the tournament used the round-robin format and later switched to a three-stage tournament format. Currently, a two-stage tournament format is used.