How cute.
For the first time in 12 years, USA Basketball isn’t in the No. 1 spot on FIBA’s men’s rankings. The International Basketball Federation, known as FIBA for short, released its updated rankings Nov. 13 with a new king: Spain. The United States is now ranked at No. 2 in the world. The two nations are only separated by 1.1 points in FIBA’s ratings system.
Throughout their span of 12 years as No. 1, Team USA has won three Olympic gold medals — 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2020 Tokyo — and has held on to that top position since winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
FIBA updated their ratings system back in 2017, changing it to only consider the previous eight years, which took the United States’ 2014 FIBA World Cup championship out of the picture. However, their 2016 (Rio de Janeiro) and 2020 (Tokyo) Olympic gold medals were still considered by FIBA. The most likely explanation for Spain topping USA Basketball was the latter’s seventh place finish in the 2019 World Cup.
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚:
Spain seize the #1 spot for the first time in FIBA Men’s World Ranking history! 👑 🇪🇸
📊 See the full rankings here, presented by @Nike:https://t.co/iPTz2JGlZ8 pic.twitter.com/yea77qbAgV
— FIBA (@FIBA) November 18, 2022
What a load of hooey.
It’s quite interesting to me that Spain conveniently took the No. 1 spot by literally just 1.1 points in these times of strong anti-American sentiment. I find that really convenient. The first time in 12 years this just all of a sudden happens, by just 1.1 damn points, literally right after winning the last Olympic gold medal? (RELATED: LeBron James Takes A Dig At The Los Angeles Lakers During The Debut Of His NFL Thursday Night Football Show)
BS.
Cute. Really, really cute, FIBA.