As summertime challenges go, Quin Snyder is hardly the only NBA head coach facing this FIBA World Cup quandary.



His Utah Jazz have three players in the international tournament that officially starts Saturday in China — Donovan Mitchell on Team USA, Rudy Gobert with France and Joe Ingles with Australia. Run that sob story by someone like, say, Boston’s Brad Stevens, and you’re liable to inspire a shrug or an eye roll. After all, his Celtics have a league-high six players who have decided to spend approximately six weeks of their offseason in an intense, highly competitive hoops environment that comes with benefits and risks.



There’s the oft-cited upside, with players who take part noting the creative merits of putting in extra work on the global stage. But the mileage — literal and proverbial — is no joke. All those extra practices during each team’s training camp, followed by a brief exhibition schedule and the tournament...