Mikal Bridges on Team USA's World Cup Mindset: 'We Feel Like We're the Best Team'

Team USA may not have brought a group of All-Star regulars to the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but that's not impacting the team's confidence.

"We feel like we're the best team," forward Mikal Bridges told ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "Every team probably feels like they can beat anyone, and they can think that all they want."

FanDuel Sportsbook currently lists the United States as -140 favorites to win the World Cup. The last World Cup in 2019 was nothing short of a disaster for the U.S., which finished in seventh place—the lowest-ever finish in an international basketball competition for the country.

The United States rebounded at the 2020 Summer Olympics to win gold, but the World Cup has long been the event where superstars sit in favor of younger and less-proven talent.

No Team USA player on the FIBA World Cup team has made more than one All-Star appearance and the entire team has four total All-Stars. That's a far cry from the 2020 team, where the non-All-Stars were outliers and tended to have minor/insignificant roles.

By contrast, most high-profile international teams send the same caliber of roster to the World Cup as they do to the Olympics. There are some small differences, but the margin for error is thinner and winning will require star turns from guys who aren't quite yet at the superstar caliber in the NBA.