Gold medals in Olympic men’s basketball are historically Team USA’s to lose. Marching into the Paris games with a stacked roster that features LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, led by four-time NBA championship head coach Steve Kerr, this summer’s tournament will be no different.
“A lot of respect for France and Paris for giving us this opportunity to showcase our talents, but we’re here for USA and we’re ready to go out and compete at a high level,” James said.
However, international talent is far from what it used to be. France’s Victor Wembanyama being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, and fellow countrymen Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr coming off the board at No. 1 and No. 2 in this year’s draft, is proof of that.
Further is the pure dominance of Serbian center Nikola Jokić and Greek forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who have captured five of the past six NBA MVPs. An American-born player has not won that award since James Harden in 2017-18.
So, the field the Americans will face in Paris will be deeper than ever. Their path to gold will be contested by far better talent then what they have faced in the past.
“Our game is global now, all of these guys are huge stars in ways,” Durant said. “We are playing against like 65 or 64 NBA players, they are all the best in the world.”
For starters, Team Canada, led by first-year Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez, also has a roster stacked with NBA talent that…
