| Tourney Name: | FIBA World Championship |
| Year: | 1994 |
| Other Titles: | FIBA Championnat du monde de basket-ball masculin 1994 |
| City: | Toronto Hamilton |
| Country: | Canada |
| Dates: | August 4–14 |
| Opened: | Ray Hnatyshyn |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Confederations: | 5 |
| Venues: | SkyDome Maple Leaf Gardens Copps Coliseum |
| Champion: | United States |
| Count: | 3 |
| Second: | Russia |
| Third: | Croatia |
| Fourth: | Greece |
| Games: | 64 |
| Mvp: |  Shaquille O'Neal |
| Top Scorer: |  Andrew Gaze (23.9 points per game) |
| Prevseason: | 1990 |
| Nextseason: | 1998 |
The 1994 FIBA World Championship was the 12th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Canada from August 4 to 14, 1994. The tournament was held at SkyDome[1] and Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto[2] as well as at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.[2] The hosting duties were originally awarded to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, but after United Nations limited participation in sporting events in Yugoslavia, Toronto stepped in as a replacement option in 1992.
The 1994 FIBA World Championship was the first time that the FIBA World Championship (now called the FIBA Basketball World Cup) allowed current American NBA players that had already played in an official NBA regular season game to participate. Prior to that only professionals from other leagues were allowed to compete, since players from other leagues were still considered amateurs.[3]
The tournament was won by the United States's "Dream Team II", who beat Russia 137–91 in the Final. The United States finished with a perfect 8–0 record (8 wins and 0 losses). The bronze medal was won by Croatia who beat Greece 78–60 in the bronze-medal game.
Three stadia were used during the tournament:
| Toronto | Hamilton | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| SkyDome | Maple Leaf Gardens | Copps Coliseum | |
| Capacity: 28,708 | Capacity: 16,538 | Capacity: 18,436 | |
There were 16 teams taking part in the 1994 World Cup of Basketball. After the 1992 Olympics, the continental allocation for FIBA Americas was reduced by one when the United States won the Olympic tournament, automatically qualifying them for the 1994 World Cup.
| Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Berths | Teams qualified | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host | - | 1 | |||
| 1992 Olympic men's basketball tournament | July 26–August 8, 1992 | 1 | |||
| June 7–10, 1993 | 1 | ||||
| June 22–July 4, 1993 | 5 | ||||
| August 28–September 5, 1993 | 4 | ||||
| FIBA Africa Championship 1993 | September 18–28, 1993 | 2 | |||
| 1993 ABC Championship | November 12–21, 1993 | 2 | * | ||
| Total | 16 | ||||
* withdrew from the tournament, replaced them.
| width=25% | Group A | width=25% | Group B | width=25% | Group C | width=25% | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The top two teams from each group remain in medal contention.
The top two finishers from Groups I and II advance to the final round.
See main article: FIBA Basketball World Cup All-Tournament Team.
O'Neal, who had a sponsorship deal with Pepsi, declined to accept the MVP award and sent Shawn Kemp in his stead as the award, which was sponsored by Coca-Cola, was a bottle of Coke encased in glass atop a wooden base.[4] [5]
Source:[6]
Andrew Gaze 23.9
Dino Rađa 22.4 Arijan Komazec 19.4
Paolo de Almeida 19.4
Richard Matienzo 18.8 Shaquille O'Neal 18
Marcelo Nicola 17.7 Reggie Miller 17.1| Rank | width=200px | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8–0 | ||
| 2 | 6–2 | ||
| 3 | 7–1 | ||
| 4 | 4–4 | ||
| 5 | 5–3 | ||
| 6 | 3–5 | ||
| 7 | 4–4 | ||
| 8 | 2–6 | ||
| 9 | 5–3 | ||
| 10 | 5–3 | ||
| 11 | 2–6 | ||
| 12 | 5–3 | ||
| 13 | 3–5 | ||
| 14 | 1–7 | ||
| 15 | 3–5 | ||
| 16 | 1–7 |