New York, March 20 (Xinhua) -- China and Croatia will send national teams to compete in the NBA Summer League on July in Las Vegas, the league announced Wednesday.

The 15th NBA Summer League will be an 83-game competition from July 5-15 on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

The event will be part of the China's preparations for the FIBA World Cup, which will be held in China from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15.

China previously played in the 2007 event in Las Vegas but Croatia will make its Summer League debut. This will mark the first time two global squads will join NBA clubs for the off-season competition.

All 32 teams will play four preliminary games before the top eight clubs are seeded in a tournament that culminates in a championship game on July 15.

Attendance and television viewership reached record levels last year, when the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the final.

Among former NBA Summer League players were future NBA MVPs Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.