WITH only five holdovers from its 2019 title-winning squad, defending Fiba Basketball World Cup champion Spain will parade a new-look core in its upcoming title-retention bid.
READ: How Spain can advance to World Cup's KO phase in Manila
Headlining La Roja's Final 12 are reigning EuroBasket tournament and Finals MVPs Willy and Juancho Hernangomez who'll be at the forefront of Spain's offense in the global showpiece.
Apart from the siblings, the three other players from the 2019 champion side who were called up were veterans Rudy Fernandez, Victor Claver, and Sergio Llull.
Also named to Spain's Final 12 are Alberto Diaz, Juan Nunez, Dario Brizuela, Alex Abrines, Joel Parra, Santi Aldama, and Oklahoma City star Usman Garuba.
The reigning champions' World Cup buildup has been an eventful one to say the least.
2019 World Cup MVP Ricky Rubio withdrew from the Spain squad on Aug. 5, less than three weeks before the global tilt, upon deciding to put his basketball career on hold to focus on his mental health.
And on the final week of their tournament preparations, the champs were dealt a stunning overtime defeat by a young Canada side in one of their last few tuneup matches before heading to Indonesia for the group stage.
Spain eyes history
Spain looks to become the fourth team in World Cup history to win back-to-back titles since Brazil (1959, 1963), Yugoslavia, (1998, 2002) and the United States (2010, 2014).
La Roja begins its title defense in Group G against Cote d'Ivoire (Aug. 26), Brazil (Aug. 28), and Iran (Aug. 30) in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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