The United States have been dethroned.
For the first time in 12 years, USA basketball isn’t atop FIBA’s men’s rankings. FIBA updated its rankings Friday and Spain moved into the top spot, just ahead of the U.S.
The U.S. are four-time defending Olympic gold medalists and prior to these updated rankings USA basketball held the top spot in every ranking since they won the FIBA World Championship in 2010.
Donovan Mitchell of Team USA looks on during a game against Poland during the 2019 FIBA World Cup Classification 7-8 on Sept. 14, 2019.NBAE via Getty Images“It’s not exactly a new title and it probably can’t be maintained for too long, but it’s something so unique, prestigious, and historic that I feel tremendously proud of everyone who contributed to it,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo tweeted Friday.
In 2017, FIBA updated its rankings to only include results from the past eight years, which takes the Team USA’s 2014 FIBA World Cup title out of consideration, though the 2016 and 2020 gold medals in the Rio and Tokyo Olympics factored into the rankings. The U.S. finished seventh in the 2019 World Cup, likely pushing them to second in the rankings.
Spain won the most recent World Cup and the EuroBasket title earlier this year and now sits just 1.1 points ahead of the U.S.
Spain’s Ricky Rubio dribbles while paying against the U.S. in 2021. NBAE via Getty ImagesSpots 3 through 12 remained unchanged. Australia is third and Argentina is fourth with France, Serbia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Greece, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic rounding out the top 12.
On the women’s side, the U.S. still hold the top spot by a huge margin — about 200 points — ahead of China following the American’s cruise to gold at this year’s Women’s World Cup.
