After being on show at the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game in New Orleans last month, the trophy will now embark on an international journey and make stops in a number of the nations that will participate in the flagship tournament in less than 150 days.

Each stop of the tour will enable local fans to have their picture taken with the Naismith Trophy and it will appear at landmark locations, on television, and with past and present national team players.

The trophy is due to first visit Puerto Rican capital San Juan and the city of Ponce on April 10 to 13, before making stops in Mexico City on April 22 to 23 and Rio de Janeiro on April 29 to 30.

The trophy is then due to take in a two-month tour of Europe, that sees it visiting the Euroleague Final Four in the Italian city of Milan on May 15 to 18, before stopping in Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Finland, Lithuania and France.

Tours in Asia and Africa are also planned for late July and early August, with the details expected to be confirmed in the near future.

The 24-team FIBA World Cup is scheduled to take place from August 30 to September 14, with the group phase to be played in Bilbao, Gran Canaria, Granada and Sevilla, and the final phase to be staged in Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi and Madrid's Palacio de los Deportes.

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