After the World Cup, FIBA usually designates an MVP and the best five of the tournament. But on Monday, we learned that the International Basketball Federation had decided to postpone its first “Rising Star Award”. This “best prospect” trophy will reward the best player aged 21 and under, and applicants must therefore be born in 2002 and later.
FIBA specifies that the list of players in the running for this award will be revealed on September 4, before the start of the final stages of the World Cup. An imperative: the players must have played at least 4 matches during the group stages.
No eligible French
On paper, no French can compete for this award for “best hope” since the youngest player, Sylvain Francisco, was born in 1997. Among the Americans, only Paolo Banchero, the rookie of the year, is eligible. On the side of Spain, Juan Nunez and Usman Garuba will be serious candidates for this award.
The trophy is more precisely called the Wanda Rising Star Award after the Chinese multinational Wanda Sports Group, which already owns the rights to the Diamond League in athletics and part of the capital of Atletico Madrid.
