Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons will lead a contingent of eight NBA players named to Australia’s 2019 FIBA World Cup squad.
The 17-man roster for the team, known as the Boomers, was announced on Thursday.
Simmons was born in Australia and lived there until he moved to the United States in 2013 to play high school basketball.
Other NBA players on the team are Deng Adel (Cleveland Cavaliers), Aron Baynes (Boston Celtics), Andrew Bogut (Golden State Warriors), Jonah Bolden (76ers), Matthew Dellavedova (Cavaliers), Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz) and Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs).
Team Australia will compete in four warmup games, including two against USA Basketball, in Melbourne in August. The World Cup will be played in China from Aug. 31 through Sept. 15.
Seven teams will qualify directly from the World Cup for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The next 16 best teams will compete in a FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in 2020.
The Boomers finished fourth in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
