Opening 2019 FIBA World Cup Odds: US Heavily Favored
By Robert Duff in NBA Basketball
Updated: March 25, 2020 at 10:49 am EDTPublished:
- The USA are the overwhelming -560 chalk to win the 2019 FIBA World Cup
- The Americans won the gold medal in 2014 and 2010
- Spain, the 2006 FIBA World Cup winners, are the third betting choice at +1800
The FIBA World Cup is the salve that America needs right now. Amidst a time of disconcerting uncertainty for the country, Americans can take solace in the fact that the country’s best basketball players remain dominant.
Heck, they don’t even need all of their best players to dominate.
Several of the NBA’s top talents — like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard — will give FIBA 2019 a pass. But Team USA has still been established as overwhelming -560 favorites to take home a precedent-setting third straight gold medal.
2019 FIBA World Cup Odds
| Country | Odds |
|---|---|
| USA | -560 |
| Serbia | +900 |
| Spain | +1800 |
| France | +3300 |
| Greece | +3300 |
| Australia | +4000 |
| Lithuania | +5000 |
| Canada | +6600 |
| Argentina | +8000 |
| Brazil | +9000 |
*Odds taken 06/14/19
Kyrie Irving (2014) and Kevin Durant (2010) were tournament MVPs as the USA won the last two World Cup titles.
USA Loaded for Bear
The 20-player training camp roster for the USA lists 11 of the players who helped win the gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.
Houston Rockets guard James Harden, the 2017-18 NBA MVP, heads the group. Kyle Lowry of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors is also part of a star-studded backcourt including both starters from the Portland Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
The frontcourt features Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans and 2018-19 NBA rebounding leader Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons. Harden, Davis and Drummond were part of the 2014 USA World Cup championship roster. Eric Gordon and Kevin Love won gold medals in 2010.
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is in charge of the team.
Could Anyone Else Win?
In 2006, Spain won the gold-medal game against Greece. The Greeks, without a single NBA player, upset the USA 101-95 in the semifinals. That American club included LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony.
The champion Spanish team included NBA players Pau Gasol and Jose Calderon and current Raptor Marc Gasol.
Four years earlier, the Americans were stunned 81-78 by Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals, coming home without a medal for the first time since 1978.
The odds are ridiculously slanted towards the USA . You might as well roll the dice on another country.
Reigning World Cup and Olympic silver medalists Serbia will be led by NBA All-Star center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets. NBA players Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nemanja Bjelica of the Sacramento Kings and Boban Marjanovic and Milos Teodosic of the Philadelphia 76ers will also participate.
No country has ever three-peated at the FIBA World Cup.
Place a small wager on the Serbs at +900. If it comes in, you’ll be handsomely rewarded.
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
