LeBron James (USA) - Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA). Photo: NBAE/Getty Images
CHICAGO (NBA) - The six teams tipping off the 2015-16 NBA season on Tuesday have something in common when it comes to international basketball.
Each outfit has players that will be at next year's Olympic Games in Brazil.
CHICAGO (NBA) - The six teams tipping off the 2015-16 NBA season on Tuesday have something in common when it comes to international basketball.
Each outfit has players that will be at next year's Olympic Games in Brazil.
Early games on opening night in the NBA will see the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Chicago Bulls, and the Atlanta Hawks go up against the Detroit Pistons.
A late game will see the New Orleans Pelicans play away against the Golden State Warriors, the team that beat Cleveland in last year's NBA Finals.
Two Spaniards, EuroBasket 2015 MVP Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, will be in a Bulls' lineup squaring off against a Cleveland side that has FIBA Oceania Championship winner Matthew Dellavedova of Australia, two-time Olympic champion LeBron James of the USA and 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup MVP Kyrie Irving of the United States.
The Rio Games will mark the fourth Olympic participation for Gasol.
It will be his second season with Chicago.
While leading Spain to EuroBasket glory this past summer, Gasol looked like a player who is in the form of his life.
The Bulls also have Cameron Bairstow of Australia's national team in their squad.
Irving will arrive in Brazil next summer as one of headline names in the men's tournament.
Fans still talk about his amazing performance at Spain 2014.
There is a good chance that James will be with the U.S. squad for a fourth straight Olympics.
He attended the 2015 USA Basketball national team mini-camp this summer.
Tiago Splitter, who will play for Olympic hosts Brazil at the 2016 Games, is now on the books of the Atlanta Hawks.
He will go up against a Detroit Pistons center that may be at the Olympics in USA World Cup winner Andre Drummond.
Aron Baynes of Olympic-bound Australia is also in the Pistons lineup.
Golden State will receive their championship rings before their home game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Playing for the Warriors will be the Splash Brothers, USA's Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, arguably the most lethal one-two punch in basketball.
The two were outstanding at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and then excellent in the 2014-15 NBA season when they fired the Warriors to their first title since 1975.
Curry ended up sixth in the league in scoring at 23.8 points per game, third in three-point shooting at 44.3 percent and first in free-throw shooting at 91.4 percent.
The 27-year-old guard was named as the league's MVP.
Thompson, who shone with his 41.5 percent accuracy from behind the arc at the World Cup, buried 43.9 percent of his attempts last season in the NBA.
Golden State's Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes were at the USA mini-camp and will contend for spots in the Olympic squad.
Warriors center Andrew Bogut played for Australia's national team this summer for the first time since the 2008 Beijing Games and helped the Boomers sweep the New Zealand Tall Blacks in the FIBA Oceania Championship to reach Rio.
USA's Anthony Davis leads the charge for New Orleans.
The athletic center is just 22 years of age but is already an Olympic gold medalist and world champion.
He had plenty of highlight reel plays at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Last season, Davis ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring (24.4 points) and led all players in blocks (2.9).
A late game will see the New Orleans Pelicans play away against the Golden State Warriors, the team that beat Cleveland in last year's NBA Finals.
Two Spaniards, EuroBasket 2015 MVP Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, will be in a Bulls' lineup squaring off against a Cleveland side that has FIBA Oceania Championship winner Matthew Dellavedova of Australia, two-time Olympic champion LeBron James of the USA and 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup MVP Kyrie Irving of the United States.
The Rio Games will mark the fourth Olympic participation for Gasol.
It will be his second season with Chicago.
While leading Spain to EuroBasket glory this past summer, Gasol looked like a player who is in the form of his life.
The Bulls also have Cameron Bairstow of Australia's national team in their squad.
Irving will arrive in Brazil next summer as one of headline names in the men's tournament.
Fans still talk about his amazing performance at Spain 2014.
There is a good chance that James will be with the U.S. squad for a fourth straight Olympics.
He attended the 2015 USA Basketball national team mini-camp this summer.
Tiago Splitter, who will play for Olympic hosts Brazil at the 2016 Games, is now on the books of the Atlanta Hawks.
He will go up against a Detroit Pistons center that may be at the Olympics in USA World Cup winner Andre Drummond.
Aron Baynes of Olympic-bound Australia is also in the Pistons lineup.
Golden State will receive their championship rings before their home game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Playing for the Warriors will be the Splash Brothers, USA's Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, arguably the most lethal one-two punch in basketball.
The two were outstanding at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and then excellent in the 2014-15 NBA season when they fired the Warriors to their first title since 1975.
Curry ended up sixth in the league in scoring at 23.8 points per game, third in three-point shooting at 44.3 percent and first in free-throw shooting at 91.4 percent.
The 27-year-old guard was named as the league's MVP.
Thompson, who shone with his 41.5 percent accuracy from behind the arc at the World Cup, buried 43.9 percent of his attempts last season in the NBA.
Golden State's Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes were at the USA mini-camp and will contend for spots in the Olympic squad.
Warriors center Andrew Bogut played for Australia's national team this summer for the first time since the 2008 Beijing Games and helped the Boomers sweep the New Zealand Tall Blacks in the FIBA Oceania Championship to reach Rio.
USA's Anthony Davis leads the charge for New Orleans.
The athletic center is just 22 years of age but is already an Olympic gold medalist and world champion.
He had plenty of highlight reel plays at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Last season, Davis ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring (24.4 points) and led all players in blocks (2.9).
By: FIBA.com
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