Criticism
Controversially, the NBA Finals are sometimes[3] regarded by league officials
and U.S. media as a "World Championship," despite the fact that only teams from
the US compete except for one team from Canada. This issue has become notable
since USA national
teams have not won official worldwide basketball competitions like the 2004 Olympics and the 2002 and 2006 FIBA World
Championships, and have even finished as low as sixth place. Although some
players from opponent international teams actually play in the NBA, teams with
no NBA players -such as Greece and Italy- have won against NBA-based USA teams.
From 1992 to 1996, the first four years of NBA players participating in USA
Basketball at worldwide tournaments, these national teams did seem to dominate
any opponent.
