FIBA Announces Final Four Berths to 2010 World Championship

FIBA has announced its four wild card choices for the 2010 World Championship in Turkey, and a nation the NBA's power structure wanted to see there is on the outside looking in. Three-time Olympic bronze medalist Lithuania, 2007 European champ Russia, 2002 Worlds bronze medalist Germany and three-time Asian runner-up Lebanon have earned the bids, leaving Great Britain -- the host of the 2012 Olympics, and a team NBA commissioner David Stern has publicly endorsed for a Worlds berth -- without a spot.

On Friday, FIBA announced eight "finalists" for the four slots. While FIBA will not confirm what specifically separated the 14 wild card applicants from those eight finalists, it is believed a substantial fee -- upward of $700,000 -- to be considered for a berth was part of the reason teams like the Dominican Republic weren't considered. Lithuania was believed to be in trouble with regard to paying FIBA's rumored fee, which the Wall Street Journal reported as $1 million, but a sponsor reportedly stepped in to get the basketball-crazy nation into the running.

Britain, of course, would have no problem coming up with the cash for consideration. Wins were the problem, and I must say, as a basketball fan I'm quite glad the three European nations made it over Britain. Lithuania brings talent, passion and fan support everywhere. Russia has some solid, interlocking talent and a great young coach. And Germany has Dirk Nowitzki, which is just about all you could want from summertime hoops. FIBA rules prevent all four wild cards coming from the same region; Lebanon was fairly clearly the non-Europe, non-Dominican team with the strongest case, despite a disappointing finish in the Asian championship this past summer. (Lebanon lost to Jordan in the third-place game with the region's last guaranteed berth on the line.)

Britain, with former Londoner Luol Deng in place, rustled up enough success in the summer of 2008 to qualify for the 2009 EuroBasket tournament. But the British ended up with a tough group schedule, and couldn't pull out a single win. And despite the prospect of English-born Ben Gordon being added to the team at some point, the Piston still hasn't played a single minute of international play with Team Britain. You wonder how much that scared FIBA off (never mind Deng's injury issues, which kept him from playing in Poland this summer).

Last October, before an NBA exhibition game at the newish O2 Arena in London, Stern told the assembled media he hoped FIBA would have "the wisdom" to give Britain a slot. But apparently FIBA cares less about the NBA's television and marketing contracts than it does its own. The Lithuanians, Germans and Russians will provide much more compelling basketball in Turkey than the British would have, and when it comes down to it, that's what really matters.

The British now must attempt to qualify for the 2011 EuroBasket tournament. (A World Championship berth, even by wild card, would have guaranteed Britain's place in the next EuroBasket.) Needless to say, games against Macedonia and Sweden this summer will be much less of an enticement for Gordon, and will do far less for the grassroots growth of British basketball fanaticism than tournament games against Spain, the United States and China would have.