The best players in the NBA are no longer exclusively American, while other countries play better as team units. We could see an upset at Paris 2024
Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Tyrese Haliburton, Lebron James, Joel Embiid, and Anthony Edwards prepare to board the Eurostar from London to Paris for the Olympics.Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Tyrese Haliburton, Lebron James, Joel Embiid, and Anthony Edwards prepare to board the Eurostar from London to Paris for the Olympics.
Unlike other basketball nations, where players grow up together in the same ecosystem, playing for the same youth clubs and graduating to the same pro teams while regularly representing their nation in international competition, American basketball is splintered.
“Teams have been together for the last six to seven years it felt like,” Durant says. “A lot of these guys have played together at amateur programs up until they are pros. And that’s not the kind of formula we have here in the United States. But we got athleticism, length, size, IQ, and you put that all on the floor with great coaching, you know, I think the chemistry will build pretty fast.”, their all-time leading scorer.
Part of the problem is that Americans no longer see the upside in representing their country outside of the Olympics, where they are expected to win but are criticized if they don’t. And, according to reigning NBA Final MVP Jaylen Brown, the other problem with the federation’s roster-building has to do with shoe company politics. Brownthat he was left off the Olympic roster because he is not signed to Nike – the major corporate sponsor behind USA Basketball.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an NBA All-Star and Canada’s best player, agrees. “The world is becoming really good at basketball, basketball is becoming a bigger sport,” he says. “It’s what the game deserves. It’s an amazing game. We all love it. That’s why it’s going where it’s going.”
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