MIES (Switzerland) - As Jalen Brunson kept on charging in the first half of Game 6 against the Boston Celtics, as Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges helped him out, we couldn't help but wonder - was 2023 the foundation for the 2025 success?
Back in Malina, Philippines, the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 went down in history as one of the most competitive major events ever.
Germany picked up gold, Serbia reached the Final despite not having Nikola Jokic there, while Canada climbed the third step of the podium, leaving the United States in fourth spot.
Being the perennial powerhouse, not reaching the podium was a devastating blow to the United States. Fans and media representatives from all over the world were quick to blame in on a thin roster that arrived in Manila.
Looking back nearly two years later, we're not sure we feel the same.
Let's start with the aforementioned New York Knicks. Sure, Brunson, Hart and Bridges all went to Villanova, so their chemistry was always there.
However, Bridges had that big clutch moment against Canada, intentionally missing a free throw, grabbing his own rebound, and sprinting to the corner to hit the three-pointer and send the game to overtime.
Hart had a specific role, lurking around the rim to pick up unexpected rebounds in Manila in 2023. In fact, at 5.3 rebounds per game, he was the best rebounder on the team for coach Steve Kerr back then.
You think he learned a new trick or two in FIBA surroundings? We do - he averaged 11.5 rebounds per game in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, done across 13 games, and he had an incredible 9.6 rebounds per game in the Regular Season in 2024-25.
Just a reminder, Josh Hart is 1.93m (6'4'') tall.
As for Brunson? Well, his World Cup wasn't a sensational one, but players always say how playing for the national team gives them a bit of a head-start going into the new season.
Straight after Manila, Jalen Brunson went on to average career-best 28.7 points per game for the Knicks in 2023-24, with a rock solid 32.4 points in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
In reality, Brunson struggled at the 2023 World Cup, and it opened up the doors for another player to lead the USA in assists and steals. He is, of course, Tyrese Haliburton, the Indiana Pacers superstar, so yes, count us in to watch the two star guards go head-to-head in the 2025 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals.
These guys are doing more than fine in the 2025 NBA Playoffs
We could even have another teammates-from-2023 matchup in the NBA Finals, as Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves are looking scary on the other side of the bracket.
So, what was the problem for all these 2025 NBA Playoffs top performers back in 2023? Why didn't they finish on top, since it is now more than obvious they were loaded with talent?
The answer is two-fold, because (1) they were so, so, so young back then, with Hart and Bobby Portis looking like veterans at 28 years of age, and because (2) the other teams were just so strong, physically, mentally, as a group, any way you want to define the word strong, they had it.
Brunson, Bridges, Hart, Edwards and Haliburton aren't just two years older now, they are some 150 games more experienced than back then, including valuable minutes both at the World Cup and the Olympics.
As much as we feel like it's all basketball, and the goal is to put the ball through the net, playing for the national team is different.
How playing FIBA Ball helps NBA superstars
Just take it from Giannis Antetokounmpo, talking about his improvement under coach Vassilis Spanoulis last summer:
"He pushed me to go out of my comfort zone, he was always keeping me alert and changed the way I approach the game."
Don't believe Giannis? Let's ask Victor Wembanyama then, talking about the Olympics, for instance:
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"I would say it's one of the most, maybe the most intense sports experience in my life."
"There's a lot I learned from it," he said. "Different types of experiences. Stuff that I learned I'm going to use for my whole life, my whole career."
It's a learning process, any time the NBA stars enter a FIBA organized competition. The cores of the Finalists in Manila, Germany and Serbia, were built nearly a decade before they got to the World Cup, while the USA roster was put together just months before the event.
In retrospect, maybe we'll need more time to realize how good the United States were in 2023, and coincidentally, how good all the others were, too, including the likes of Slovenia, Lithuania, the Dominican Republic or South Sudan, teams that weren't even in the medal hunt.
Maybe we'll need more time to give the final answer.
But rest assured, we'll keep reminding you about 2023 as long as all these guys are dominating the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
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