Here are all the Sixers connections to FIBA EuroBasket 2025

The 76ers are three weeks away from training camp and one month out from their first NBA preseason game against the New York Knicks in Abu Dhabi.

But while the NBA is still emerging from its sleepy offseason, high-level basketball is being played at FIBA EuroBasket, with competition in Cyprus, Finland, Poland, and Latvia. NBA stars including Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo can represent their home country and bid for European supremacy.

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The Sixers’ current stars don’t have connections to the tournament and are using this offseason to heal for what will be a critical 2025-26 season. Former Sixers — and one young current player — do have connections to the 42nd edition of FIBA EuroBasket, however. Let’s explore them all.

The Sixers are most closely tied to Turkey, which features current center Adem Bona and former guard Furkan Korkmaz on its roster. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Bona was only a year into his basketball journey when Turkish coach Türkay Çakıroğlu discovered him. He moved to Istanbul at 13 years old before moving on to Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif., and UCLA after that.

Korkmaz has even more experience in Philly than Bona, having joined the Sixers as the No. 26 pick in the 2016 draft. He played seven seasons with the Sixers and even signed a three-year, $15 million deal in 2021. He failed to live up to the contract and fell out of favor in Philly. He has since returned to Europe and remained a mainstay for the Turkish national team.

While his time in Philly was short-lived, Guerschon Yabusele left an impression during his lone season with the Sixers. He signed a one-year, veteran minimum deal but outplayed the contract almost immediately. With the Sixers light on big men as Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond struggled through injuries, Yabusele stepped up and earned a two-year, $12 million deal with the New York Knicks.

As he has noted, the French national team placed Yabusele back on the NBA’s radar. Originally drafted No. 16 in 2016 by the Boston Celtics, Yabusele flamed out of the league and had to make his bones in Europe. He grew into a different player and displayed that during the 2024 Olympics, notably against a stacked Team USA. Yabusele’s poster dunk over LeBron James was one of the major highlights of the Paris Games.

This is one includes close tie to Philly and a somewhat loose tether to the city. Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot was selected 24th in the 2016 NBA draft, joining the Process-era Sixers. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t last long in Philly, as was the case for many of the players picked up during that time. Luwawu-Cabarrot played for the Sixers for only two seasons but lasted in the NBA for four more seasons.

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As for the other connection, Juancho Hernangómez, a seven-year NBA veteran, starred in Adam Sandler’s Hustle movie, which was filmed in Philly and featured Hernangómez as Bo Cruz, a Spanish street baller hoping to get back into the NBA. He eventually makes it with the Sixers and members of the team make cameos along the way, including former Sixers coaches Doc Rivers and Dave Joerger and players Boban Marjanović, Matisse Thybulle, and Tobias Harris, who goes toe-to-toe with Hernangómez in a street ball scene. Hall of Famer Julius Erving and current star Tyrese Maxey also made an appearance.