The Orlando Magic do not open training camp until Sept. 30. It will be a long two-month wait for the Magic to take the floor for this highly anticipated season.
Some of the summer offseason videos have snuck out -- Paolo Banchero showed up at the Jordan Elite Camp in Las Vegas and the Zekeend in the Seattle area, and Jonathan Isaac was part of a recent NBA delegation to Bhutan.
Everyone is making the most of their offseason. But these are all still exhibitions and pro-ams. This is not highly competitive basketball.
The competitive basketball is yet to come with Eurobasket, a major international tournament.
Three Magic players will participate in meaningful basketball before the start of the season. Franz Wagner and Tristan da Silva will represent Germany, and Goga Bitadze will represent Georgia. It will make for a fun final month of basketball for Magic fans leading into training camp.
While this tournament is not as presitigous as the intercontentinental tournaments like the FIBA World Cup or the Olympics, this tournament is not short on passion. The teams care about these games. They often feature raucous crowds.
This is big-time basketball and meaningful games. There is no better way to prepare for a season with these stakes than to play in high-intensity games. And all three of the Magic's players participating in the tournament will have plenty to prove as they take the floor for national pride.
When they return to Orlando, they should be ready to compete and have some big-game experience under their belt heading into this critical season.
Preparations have already begun.
Franz Wagner and Tristan da Silva have reported to Germany's training camp in Malaga, Spain, before Friday's opening exhibition game against Luka Doncic and Slovenia. Bitadze scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 15 minutes during Georgia's 76-66 loss to Israel in a closed-door exhibition on Monday.
Eurobasket can be a lot, though. Some players' roles are different from what they would be for the Magic -- Bitadze is expected to come off the bench again. And the tournament itself can be daunting, especially with the early morning tip times.
So let's get the basics down before the tournament begins.
When is Eurobasket and how does the tournament work?
Eurobasket is simply the European championship.
Think the basketball version of the FIFA Euro tournament. It pits the best teams in Europe against each other. Like the FIBA World Cup, qualifying took place during the season and used players based in Europe rather than NBA players. But all the top teams qualified and will be present.
Luminaries like Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Luka Doncic (Slovenia) are expected to play in this year's tournament, joining potential All-Star Franz Wagner (Germany).
It is a 24-team tournament that will begin August 27 and take place in four host countries -- Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Poland. The final takes place Sept. 14 in Riga, Latvia.
Yes, that means that if Germany or Georgia reaches the final, those players will have only two weeks between the end of the tournament and the start of training camp in Orlando.
The 24 teams are split into four six-team groups. The top four teams in each group will advance to a single-elimination knockout round beginning Sept. 6.
When can I watch Eurobasket?
Germany is one of the co-favorites to win the tournament and is the top seed in Group B. They have a fairly easy group with a solid team in Finland as their 2-seed in their group and traditional powerhouse Lithuania too. Great Britain, Sweden and the Nikola Vucevic-led Montenegro round out their group.
Germany opens the tournament against Montenegro on Aug. 27. All of their games will take place in Tampere, Finland. Their full schedule is below (all times Eastern):
Game | Date/Time |
|---|---|
Germany vs. Montenegro | Aug. 27/9:30A |
Germany vs. Sweden | Aug. 29/6:30A |
Germany vs. Lithuania | Aug. 30/6:30A |
Germany vs. Great Britain | Sept. 1/9:30A |
Germany vs. Finland | Sept. 3/1:30P |
Georgia will have its work cut out for it to reach the knockout round.
They are in Group C along with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece, defending Eurobasket champion (and gold medalists in four of the last six tournaments) in Spain and traditional power Italy. They also face upstart Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Georgia opens against Spain on Aug. 28 with all games played in Limassol, Cyprus. Their full schedule is below (all times Eastern):
Game | Date/Time |
|---|---|
Georgia vs. Spain | Aug. 28/8A |
Georgia vs. Italy | Aug. 30/8A |
Georgia vs. Greece | Aug. 31/8A |
Georgia vs. Cyprus | Sept. 2/11:15A |
Georgia vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina | Sept. 4/8A |
Games are available to watch on FIBA's Courtside 1891 streaming service. ESPN+ has typically added FIBA's international feed to their streaming service, but no official announcement has been made.
What's at stake in Eurobasket?
There is obviously a lot of national pride on the line. But not much else.
The 24 teams that qualified for Eurobasket automatically got pushed forward to the second round of FIBA World Cup qualifying -- that tournament takes place in 2027 giving the international players a summer off next year.
This is truly about national pride.
That creates a lot of passionate fan bases and a lot of passionate play throughout this tournament. This is one of the most fun and exciting tournaments on the international calendar.
There are a lot of games in a short period. These are high-intensity games. But by the time we get to the knockout rounds, we see playoff-level basketball.
It should be a fun tournament. And the teams are already preparing for it.