By Nikola Miloradovic / info@eurohoops.net
The buzz among basketball aficionados and experts alike is that the team the USA has assembled for the 2024 Paris Olympics could be the best ever. So, there’s hardly a need to explain why they are the overwhelming favorites to clinch the gold medal.
For the sake of argument, though, let’s look at the roster. It boasts multiple NBA MVPs, champions, some with multiple rings, and Olympic gold winners. This squad is also on a mission to redeem the team that went medal-less at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Therefore, they are all highly motivated—especially the 39-year-old LeBron James.
These are just some of the reasons why Team USA is the undisputed No. 1 candidate to seize the top prize in the French capital this summer. They aim to secure their 17th Olympic gold and their fifth in a row.
In their last four successful appearances, they lost just one game: the opener against France three years ago in Tokyo.
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So, they are taking the Olympics seriously once again, assembling a powerhouse team. But can someone stop them, as Argentina did in 2004? Or at least challenge them?
Back then, in Athens, they also had LeBron James, along with Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Tim Duncan, and Amar’e Stoudemire. Yet, they lost to Puerto Rico and Lithuania during the group phase, and then fell to Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, Carlos Delfino, and the rest of the golden Argentinian squad in the semifinals (though they went on to win bronze).
Fast forward two decades, and while the USA has put together a formidable team, the gap between them and the rest of the world has narrowed. Some of the players who have helped close that gap will be obstacles in Steve Kerr’s squad’s path to gold.
Take three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, for instance. He is flanked by three other NBA players on the Serbian national team: sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic, versatile Nikola Jovic, and former EuroLeague MVP, Vasilije Micic. The rest are experienced EuroLeague players, some of them among the best in Europe, like Olympiacos center Nikola Milutinov.
Then there’s two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. He led Greece to their first Olympic berth since 2008, and he has no plans to stop there. Vassilis Spanoulis’ squad shone at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus, with Nick Calathes, Georgios Papagiannis, Dinos Mitoglou, and Thomas Walkup also performing at a high level. With a star like Giannis, Greece demands to be taken seriously, even by a force like Team USA.
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Besides Serbia and Greece, who appear poised to put up a fight against the grand favorites, other teams have the potential to challenge the biggest US stars—like 2023 FIBA World Cup winners Germany.
Gordon Herbert’s squad features several NBA players, including Franz and Moritz Wagner, Dennis Schroder, and Daniel Theis. They demonstrated their quality by nearly defeating Steve Kerr’s team in their final prep game before the Olympics. Germany also took down the United States in the World Cup semifinals last year, though that was a very different team.
France, despite their four-game losing streak leading up to the Olympic tournament, cannot be discounted. They have Victor Wembanyama, as well as Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, and Evan Fournier. They were the last team to beat the USA at the Olympics in the past 20 years and remain the only one to do so. The Blues also put up a great fight against the US team led by Kevin Durant at the Tokyo finals.
Vincent Collet’s squad did not impress this summer, but they possess a wealth of talent and potential—and they will be playing on home soil.
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Simple math suggests that Canada and Australia should also be able to compete with the US side, given their substantial number of NBA players. Canada has the second-most NBA players at the tournament with 10, while Australia boasts eight.
The Canadians defeated Team USA last summer at the World Cup, but Steve Kerr’s team then was markedly different, with less quality and experience. However, Canada has been reinforced, with Jamal Murray joining Jordi Fernandez’s squad.
As for Australia, “FIBA Patty Mills” is back, and their victories over France and Serbia during preparations speak volumes. The Boomers are a rival to be respected.
So, while Team USA has formidable rivals, if they indeed have one of the best teams ever, then it’s fair to say they are facing some of the best competition ever as well.
Despite everything, no one can definitively place themselves in a position to threaten the star-studded USA team. But some teams have a reason to hope they can rise to the challenge.
The rest is to be answered on the floor in Lille and Paris.