ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - The Black family trophy case has two FIBA Youth AmeriCup gold medals in the United States. Beckham Black is hoping to add a FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026 title to his collection and get bragging rights over his brother.
Anthony Black helped USA to the FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2022 championship one year before he was selected by the Orlando Magic with the sixth pick of the 2023 NBA Draft. That kept Anthony from playing at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023.
Beckham earned his continental hardware last summer by averaging 6.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 3.3 steals as part of the winning team at the FIBA U16 AmeriCup 2025. And there is a big difference between the U16 AmeriCup and the competition in Istanbul.
"It's a lot better teams. We're playing better competition each game. We're playing for a lot more, too. This is the World Cup. It's not just the AmeriCup, so we're coming out here trying to prove why USA is still the best country in the world," said Black, who has collected 16.3 points, 2 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 3.0 steals in USA’s first three wins.
"I feel like we're doing good, but we have a lot to work on. We have some holes in some of our principles, some of the things that we do. So (we need to) patch those holes for when it gets important."
Black has enjoyed his first event on the global stage.
It's been a great experience
"It's been a great experience, coming out here and competing with people I can call my brothers now. I've been with them for three or four weeks, so coming out here and getting to play with them has been great."
The stat Black is most happy about is 22 to 4 - his assists to turnovers for a ratio of 5.5, with 2.0 being very good.
"I enjoy getting my teammates involved. I enjoy passing them the ball. So having a good assist to turnover ratio is always good for me," he said.
Having the likes of AJ Williams and Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje to pass the ball to isn't too bad either.
"It makes my job a lot easier. I'll say that. Everybody's good at what they do. Everybody can do their job at a very high level. So if I could just put them in the right positions to do their job, how good I know they can do it, then we'll be good as a team."
Black has seen his scoring jump from 6.7 points last summer to 16.3 points this summer, and a big reason for that is the absence of the injured Nasir Anderson. The guard was named the Most Valuable Player of the U16 AmeriCup, and Black knows he has to pick things up a bit.
"I am just using my voice more. Having Nas last year, he was a big voice in the locker room and on the court. So I am filling that role, using my voice a lot more than I did last year and just leading my team on the court," said Black, who serves as the USA captain.
"The scoring really is just the flow of the game. I try to play on how the flow is going. If my teammates are hot, then I'm going to let them be hot and keep finding them in the right positions. And if we're in a little scoring drought, I'm going to try to attack and get us the best shot that we can that way."
When it's all said and done, Black has one goal in mind - leaving Istanbul on July 6 with a gold medal around his neck.
"We've been battling for three weeks now. That's our goal and that's what we're here to do, so it would mean everything."
It would also mean having two medals to one from his NBA playing brother.
"For sure bragging rights. But a lot of kids around the country pray for being on their country's national team and supporting their country. So for me being able to maybe get two of them means a lot to me."
FIBA