FIBA World Cup 1982 was held in Colombia. At this championship, the MVP was Doc Rivers, and Arvydas Sabonis made his debut.
This was the ninth World Cup. Unlike the previous two tournaments when there were 14 participants, the “old” system was returned with 13 teams in battle for the world throne.
The championship itself was marked by several interesting things. For the first time, the world saw the legendary Arvydas Sabonis in action on the big stage. MVP of the tournament was Doc Rivers, a later NBA All-Star and a long-time head coach, while Yugoslavia continued its streak and won a medal again.
Soviet Union won its third gold medal
During its existence, the Soviet Union was constantly at the top of the world basketball. When they didn’t win the trophy, they would almost always win at least a medal.
The Soviets came to Colombia with the highest ambitions. They wanted to return to the throne after an eight-year break, considering that they won the last championship title back in 1974. They placed their hopes in a phenomenal tandem under the basket.
Vladimir Tkachenko was a real “giant” under the hoop, given that he is 221 centimeters tall. Together with him, the Soviet Union offensive force was Anatoly Myshkin, who played in the power forward position. Part of the team was also young Arvydas Sabonis, who would in years later acquire the status of a basketball legend.
The Soviet Union looked phenomenal on the floor and it was clear that they had the quality to go all the way. However, the United States also were in a great form. The fact that both teams played brilliantly led to their showdown for the gold medal. It was one of the most exciting and high-quality duels in the history of this competition.
Final game was extremely close and the winner was decided at the very end. The United States had last possession with nine seconds to go, and given that they were losing by 95:94, they could still won. They created a open-look shot for Doc Rivers. However, he missed and his team had to settle for silver in the end.
MVP – Glenn “Doc” Rivers
Although you would expect the MVP of the tournament to be from the Soviet Union, this has often not been the case in the past. FIBA World Cup 1982 continued the tradition and it was the fourth Mundobasket out of the last five where the MVP did not come from the winning team.
Today’s generation know Doc Rivers as an NBA head coach. He led several clubs, but he is marked by tenure in the Boston Celtics, with whom he became a champion in 2008. He also coached the Orlando Magic, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers, which he left at the end of last season.
Rivers played at point guard position. He was adorned with excellent mind, but also the ability to create for himself and be quite efficient. As the 1982 FIBA World Cup progressed, he got better and better.
It is true that in the end he missed the title shot, but he more than deservedly received the MVP award.
The championship in Colombia is the only major competition where Rivers played with the national team. Until the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans did not go to competitions with basketball players from the NBA.
The world met Arvydas Sabonis
It often happened in the past that young basketball players got a chance, even in the best national teams. Head coaches would took one or two younger players who spent time at the end of the bench to gather experience for the future.
Although they had a quality team, which is best shown by winning the title, the Soviets found a way to give a chance to a talented basketball player, Arvydas Sabonis.
For the younger ones, Sabonis was a similar type of player as Nikola Jokic is today. Center with playmaking abilities. His teammates often said that if you don’t follow what he is doing for a second, he will surprise you and hit you in the head with the ball.
Of course, at the time when the FIBA World Cup 1982 was held in Colombia, Sabonis was not even close to the level he would later be at.
Sabonis himself did not expect to be called up then. He was 17 years old, and in his position Tkachenko was extremely dominant. He later admitted this in a FIBA documentary.
“I was extremely surprised that I received an invitation to the national team.” – said Sabonis when he spoke about the performance in Colombia.
Sabonis did not play many minutes then, primarily because of his youth, but also because of the quality of the team. And yet, in a convincing win against Colombia, he managed to score 28 points and show how great career is ahead of him. He finished his first major competition with an average of 9.6 points.
Yugoslavia continued its streak of winning medals
Once again, Yugoslavia had a very high-talented team. Unlike some previous actions, Kresimir Cosic was not part of the roster this time. However, the “Blues” came to Colombia with enormous quality.
When head coach Ranko Zeravica spoke about those times, he used to say that the preparations for the World Cup 1982 used to last for two years. Not from the aspect of playing the team, but because of collecting data about the opponents. Today, this is unthinkable with all modern technologies.
Information was hard to gather. Everything was done manually, data was written down on paper and when everything was collected, the players would be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. Although the work on that side was difficult, Yugoslavia regularly won medals. It was the same in Colombia.
They did not defend the gold, but they won the bronze. In a game ford third place, Yugoslavia defeated Spain by 119:117. That was the sixth consecutive medal at the Mundobasket for them.
All-Tournament Team
As already mentioned, Doc Rivers was named the MVP, although he did not win the gold medal. Also, he was part of the All-Tournament Team.
Next to him, two golden Soviets found its place there – Anatoly Myshkin and Vladimir Tkachenko. Dragan Kicanovic secured his place among the best five from Yugoslavia, while Juan Antonio San Epifanio represented Spain.