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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told Yahoo! Sports he isn’t aware of the NBA’s specific intentions in possibly moving its star players to the rebranded World Cup, but says he has lobbied for much more complete control of the tournament. He sees no reason to partner with FIBA or anyone else. He wants the NBA to own, operate and profit on a global tournament using the league’s stars. "The question is: Why would we partner with a current tournament rather than start our own?" Cuban said. "If done correctly, it can be NBA-owned and operated and have the potential to be just as large as the World Cup of soccer. That is a product, in my opinion, we want to own, not share. “I don’t know what the NBA plan is, but the above is what I will be pushing for." Yahoo! Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, David Stern, World Championship 

This year's U.S. team could include the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, but it would be time for the younger guys to take over if the change that Stern and Silver are warming to was enacted. "We think international soccer has an excellent model and in the case of soccer, of course, there's the World Cup of football, which is the biggest sporting event in the world every four years, and then in the off years, for the World Cup, they play, in essence, with some exceptions, a 23-and-under competition at the Olympics," Silver said. "And there's a recognition certainly Mark Cuban, other owners have raised repeatedly the issue of our players playing in essence year round when you add the Olympics to our newly renamed world championship of basketball to our World Cup of Basketball. So when you have the Olympics, the World Cup of Basketball, we are taking a very close look at whether it makes sense from an NBA standpoint and a global basketball standpoint for the top players to be playing at that level on a year round basis, and somewhere (every) summer. ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, USA Basketball, Olympics, World Championship, Adam Silver 

"(I'd be) more thrilled if the NBA starts its own world championship," Cuban said. "This way the revenues from the tourney could be shared with players. When the revenues go to FIBA, they get next to nothing. The teams get absolutely nothing." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, USA Basketball, David Stern, Olympics, World Championship, Adam Silver 

Calderon wants to play the World Championship in 2014 to be held in Spain. "It will be an important event, considering the results we had in the last World Championship in Turkey 2010 were not what we expected." Superdeporte

Toronto Raptors, Jose Manuel Calderon, World Championship 

Very often, when a player takes part in an epic Team USA adventure, he comes back to his team a better player. That was definitely the case with Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, who signed a huge contract extension with the Grizzlies and then helped Team USA win gold in the World Championships. "I think being a part of Team USA has helped me change my work habits," Gay tells HOOPSWORLD. "Seeing those guys work as hard as they do was really something to be a part of. I think improving my work habits is the best thing that came out of that experience for me. It also helped to be part of something bigger. Everybody on that team was a star, so everybody accepted their roles. I think now, coming back, I have a better understanding of what our other guys go through who aren't star players." HoopsWorld

Memphis Grizzlies, Rudy Gay, USA Basketball, World Championship 

Hollins agrees that Gay learned something from his experience with Team USA, and believes Gay will be a better leader for having had that experience. "I think he learned that it's more fun to win than to lose," Hollins says, laughing. "I really believe that the experience of not starting and not being a go-to guy was the best experience. I think it would be the best experience for a lot of young guys who come into the league with all these expectations to learn how to play another role and to see how important the role players are to the team and to still be effective with limited opportunities. I thought Rudy was effective without being the star of the team, and he understood that he still had to play defense, he still had to rebound, and he accepted that they weren't asking him to shoot every time he touched the ball. I think the majority of these young players who come in at 18, 19, 20 years old could use that lesson . . .even the ones that are very good right off the bat could learn that lesson." HoopsWorld

Memphis Grizzlies, Rudy Gay, USA Basketball, World Championship 

Pacers forward Danny Granger said he didn't take it personally that 76ers guard Andre Iguodala started over him for Team USA during the World Championships over the summer. Iguodala played ahead of Granger because he's a better defender. Granger averaged 9.7 minutes a game for the gold medal-winning team. "The style coach (Mike) Krzyzewski wanted to play was to pressure the ball full court," Granger said. "Andre's better than me at that. That's not something I do. He plays the passing lanes. We don't play passing lanes here. We're just two different players. "I can play good defense in the half court. If you want to pressure full court, I can do it, too, but I don't know if I'll be able to do it the whole game." Indianapolis Star

Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Andre Iguodala, Danny Granger, USA Basketball, World Championship 

The World Championships just finished a few weeks ago and you are already in the NBA. Do you feel tired at all? Hidayet Turkoglu: Yeah, I feel tired a bit. This was one great summer, but a very long one too. That is why I feel some fatigue. I went through the training camp, now I am in the regular season. There simply is no time… I have to give my best and just move on… HoopsHype

Phoenix Suns, Hidayet Turkoglu, World Championship 

The truth of the matter is that Billups has never coveted the spotlight or played the game for individual recognition. The lack of attention upon reporting to training camp did nothing to diminish the pride he took in helping the United States win its first world title since 1994. “Even though we feel like we have the best basketball in the world, it hadn’t been done in 16 years,” he said. “It felt so much better after hearing people say, ‘They can’t play. They don’t have this, they don’t have that.’ Outside of the Brazil game (a two-point win), we didn’t even have a close game. We dominated the tournament. It just felt good.” Billups, who turned 34 last week, says his body is also feeling good as he prepares for his 14th NBA season. Team USA’s training for the World Championship coincided with his normal offseason workout schedule. “Those games were a lot shorter over there – 40-minute games. I was playing for like 22-23 minutes,” he said. “So really it was no difference in my preparation for the season, other than just the travel.” NBA.com

Chauncey Billups, USA Basketball, World Championship 

Gasol is a regular MVP with the Spanish National Team but chose to skip the 2010 World Games in Turkey. His team suffered without him. "It was tough. It was painful, especially because my country wasn't doing as well as I wanted it," said Pau. "I know that I could have helped but at the same time I made my decision for a reason. Hopefully it's for the best and hopefully I'll have a healthy, more productive of a year than if I were to have participated in the World Championships." HoopsWorld

Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol, World Championship 

To his credit, Gasol put his foot down and stepped out of the basketball spotlight this summer, skipping the FIBA World Championship that Spain won in 2006 with Gasol named MVP. He knew he needed to rest after three consecutive NBA Finals runs with the Lakers – in addition to continuing to play every summer for Spain to get the silver at Eurobasket 2007, the silver at the 2008 Olympics and the gold at Eurobasket 2009. Without him this time, Spain finished sixth. "I did it for a reason, and no regrets," Gasol said. "I made my decision. I've been able to recharge the batteries." Orange County Register

Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol, World Championship 

Even after Rajon Rondo stepped aside from Team USA, the Celtics were invested in the 2010 FIBA World Championships thanks to Semih Erden's participation with his native Turkey. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said he watched every Turkey game on TV, while also dispatching director of player personnel Ryan McDonough overseas to report back on Erden's exploits. The 6-foot-11 rookie center averaged 9.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game in nine appearances, while helping the hosts earn silver. "I really liked what I saw," said Ainge. "I thought Semih played with great energy and confidence." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Semih Erden, World Championship 

At this stage of his career, Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo says winning a FIBA gold medal just doesn't rank with winning another gold NBA trophy. In fact, if it had been up to Rondo, he never would have tried out for the USA squad that ended a 16-year drought by defeating Turkey for the 2010 FIBA World Championship title. Rondo said several factors contributed to his subpar performance with the squad -- being worn out from the Celtics' narrow Finals loss to the Lakers, his mind on making up for it this season; missing his two-year old daughter; mourning the death of an uncle; and being disenchanted with European cuisine -- ultimately leading him to withdraw from the team. ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Rajon Rondo, Team USA, World Championship 

But there's no question that Rondo has long been ambivalent about playing for Team USA, turning down previous invitations to try out and having a last-minute change of heart this summer. Celtics president Danny Ainge said earlier this summer that he was surprised by Rondo's decision to join the team's Las Vegas training camp. "I just never got the sense he was committed to it the way some of those other guys were," Ainge said. His agent, Bill Duffy, insists that it was his idea that Rondo compete. "Physically, emotionally, he wasn't ready for it," Duffy said. "I feel bad because I was really pushing him to do it because of the experience and his stature." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Rajon Rondo, Team USA, World Championship 

"It was great to practice every day against the best young talent in the league, a veteran like Chauncey Billups and play for a Hall of Fame coach [Mike Krzyzewski]," Rondo said. "But some of these guys hadn't played since April. Lamar [Odom] and I had just got out of Game 7. And next season is right around the corner. I feel like I had to take advantage of the opportunity I have right now to win another championship. It's not often you get to play with four Hall of Famers. Another couple of years and I won't have that." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Rajon Rondo, Team USA, World Championship 

Mike Krzyzewski on how big this win was: “This was really one of the big wins ever for USA Basketball for a number of reasons. One, just to win a World Championship which we haven’t done very often, haven’t done in 16 years. Two it gets us qualified for the Olympics. The World Champion has one of the spots guaranteed in the 2012 Olympics. It makes sure we don’t have to qualify next summer so we don’t have to play next summer. It also continues us in good stead, gold standard stead by winning the Olympics and now the World Championships. This year the under 17, under 18, and under 19 teams also won gold. It’s a fantastic year for USA Basketball. Now we’re as a total program, rated number one in the world. With this group, we had a young group and guys that had not done this before except for Lamar Odom and Chauncey Billups. To have a new group end up being champions to go along with the champions from the Olympics means that our pool of players for USA Basketball is deep. It’s deep not just in players, but it’s deep in players who have had championship experiences.” Sports Radio Interviews

USA Basketball, Mike Krzyzewski, World Championship 

While watching the game, BiE noticed quite a bit of “physical” play allowed by the refs, but nothing necessary grievously in Team Turkey’s favor. However, today, thanks to a fan photo taken from the stands, we can all see that a terrible error was made. Check out this photo; worth the proverbial thousand words of vitriol. Please also note the gentlemen with the TV camera working for FIBA – he’s particularly easy to see, as he’s wearing red. Notice the angle on the play that he’s got; has anyone seen this video footage since the conclusion of the game? Did anyone see this shot during the game? Ball In Europe

Turkey, World Championship 

Now look, everybody’s human, not to take anything away from Turkey’s awesome run, it’s all part of history now nothing to be done, et cetera – and BiE does *not* paranoidally believe in any sort of game-fixing or scripting games at this level. But this smoking gun, this Zapruder Film of a snapshot is a bit disturbing to a generally fun tournament, particularly since it seems likely we’ll get the cone of silence from FIBA officials in response to a particularly damningly bad call. You can understand why Team Serbia backers continue to fume, too; imagine the reaction if, say, Marcelo Huertas had turned a Tiago Splitter miscue into a game-winning layup to give Team Brazil the win over Team USA? Just saying is all… Ball In Europe

Turkey, World Championship 

Brooks says trio will get rest if they need it. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he will monitor Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Nenad Krstic throughout training camp after all three made it to the final day of the 2010 FIBA World Championship on Sunday for their respective countries. Brooks said he doesn't think fatigue will be an issue but considers himself "supportive” of any rest they might need. "They have a couple of weeks to recharge their batteries,” Brooks said. "But they're excited about coming back and being around their teammates. I've texted both (Durant and Westbrook) and they're looking forward to coming back. Oklahoman

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Nenad Krstic, World Championship 

Team USA's Kevin Durant claimed the Most Valuable Player award at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Durant had a game-high 28 points in his team's 81-64 triumph over Turkey in the final on Sunday. The 21-year-old power forward won the honour - voted by international media representatives at Istanbul's Sinan Erdem Dome - having averaged 22.1 points and 6.2 rebounds as his team went undefeated in Turkey. FIBA.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, USA Basketball, World Championship