The seventh-place Americans did not suffer from a lack of coverage. Not at all. I imagine ESPN would have moved more games onto its primary networks, away from ESPN+, if there was sufficient audience demand.

Interest, I’m afraid, is organic. People like what they like. You can’t make them care.

Q: I think FIBA should face three big problems before dreaming big: 1) Its World Cup qualifying schedule; 2) N.B.A. teams pushing their foreign players not to be part of it; 3) Way too many teams in the tournament. It’s not good for the game when matches end up with a margin of 50-60 points. — Mirko Gamberini

STEIN: You get no argument from me on the qualifying schedule. I have been railing against FIBA’s decision to adopt soccer-style qualifying since its inception, because it means that N.B.A. players can’t take part in the overwhelming majority of it.

But FIBA is convinced that its members need regular qualifying games at home to grow the sport, which weren’t possible when qualifying events were held in the summer at a central location. FIBA officials insist that they are largely pleased with the crowds that qualifying games attracted in many countries even without N.B.A. players on the floor.

Andreas Zagklis, FIBA’s new general secretary, made it a point to remind those at his recent news conference that FIBA is only halfway through its first four-year cycle of the new World Cup format. From his answer you can safely infer that changes won’t be seriously considered until after the completion of the first cycle — and even then I wouldn’t expect them to scrap the new format so quickly.

As for your second concern, there isn’t much FIBA can do about N.B.A. teams that covertly urge players to prioritize rest over international play. This has been happening forever and comes as much these days from the players themselves. In the Load Management era, it’s inevitable.

On your last point: I, too, have questioned the need for 32 teams in the competition — compared to 24 in 2014. But Zagklis made a worthy argument for such a big field when he pointed out how badly the Dream Team used to pummel opponents. FIBA contends that giving 32 countries an opportunity to play at the highest level is the best way to raise the median level of the world game. Fourteen of the 92 games played in China were decided by 30 points or more — not ideal but also not outrageous.