The basketball world championship is one of the biggest international basketball events outside of the Olympics. Like the Olympics or World Cup, the FIBA World Championship is held once every four years. The team that wins the tournament is awarded the Naismith Trophy, named for the inventor of basketball.

Since the 2006 tournament, the FIBA World Championship consists of 24 teams. They are divided in to 4 groups of 6 teams each. After the group stage, the 16 top teams advance to a knockout round. That continues until the final game, where the FIBA World Champion is crowned. Teams qualify for the tournament in several ways. The host nation and the reigning Olympic champion earn automatic bids. The rest of the spots are determined by the various FIBA federations much like in soccer. Once all of the bids are secured, a draw is held to determine the six groups.

The group state is conducted with a round robin format. Each team in a group will play 5 games. The top four teams from each group advance to the knockout stage. This bracket is based on the order that teams finish in the group stage. The final game determines the FIBA champion. A third place game is held to determine who wins the bronze medal.

The FIBA World Championship was first held in 1950 in Argentina, with the host nation defeating the United States in the final game. The 2010 edition is being held in Turkey. The United States has won the most medals in the history of the tournament with ten, including three gold medals. Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union have won eight medals each, including three gold medals each to tie them with the United States for most tournament wins. Serbia and Russia, nations that were once part of those two countries, have won two medals apiece since Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union dissolved. Spain is the reigning champion, having won the 2006 tournament in Japan.

The United States has had a checkered history at the FIBA World Championship despite their impressive Olympic resume. The United States last won the FIBA World Championship in 1994. They have had two bronze medals since then. They hit a low point when they lost in the quarterfinals in 2002, a tournament they hosted. The United States has a new team from the 2008 Olympics, but is still the favorite to win in 2010.