USA Basketball's shocking finish vs. Yugoslavia needs a deep rewind | 2002 FIBA World Championship

After nearly all the stars dropped out, USA Basketball sent an awkwardly constructed, ill-prepared team to the 2002 FIBA World Championship. This is the story not only of their startling run in the tournament, but of their opponent in the knockout round: Yugoslavia. After decades of being truly "Yugoslavian" -- a multi-ethnic basketball powerhouse -- the team calling itself by that name was by 2002 only composed of Serbian and Montenegrin players. Those included one star holdover from the old days (Vlade Divac), plus some promising youngsters like Peja Stojakovic.

Check out this episode of REWINDER to see what went down, and how these two teams with very different trajectories got to that point.

Subscribe:

Check out our full video catalog:
Visit our playlists:
Like SB Nation on Facebook:
Follow on Twitter:
Follow on Instagram:
Explore SB Nation:

united states,usa basketball,paul pierce,andre miller,reggie miller,indianapolis,fiba world championship,fiba world cup,fiba,yugoslavia,serbia,montenegro,vlade divac,peja stojakovic,sacramento kings,indiana pacers,