USA Basketball, featuring LeBron, Curry, and Durant, has the potential to become the Olympic ‘dream team’ for next year
The United States, which finished fourth at the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup on Tuesday, may be looking to assemble a “dream team” for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“National Basketball Association (NBA) superstars are interested in competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” ESPN reported on Wednesday, citing LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Steph Curry as possible candidates.
The United States, which also fielded a team of NBA players at this year’s FIBA World Cup, lost to Germany in the semifinals and Canada in the third- and fourth-place games.
After finishing seventh in the last edition of the tournament in 2019, the U.S. hoped to redeem itself with Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Brunson, and Jaren Jackson Jr. among the tournament’s top five players, but once again failed to reach the medal round.
However, the U.S. players at this year’s World Cup, while starters on their respective teams, are hardly the “best of the NBA.
That’s because they’re missing the league’s All-Stars, including James, Curry, and Kevin Durant.
“Durant, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker and Draymond Green, all of whom won gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, as well as 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Chris Paul, could return to the team,” according to ESPN.
James won a bronze medal in Athens in 2004 and gold in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
Curry has never competed in the Olympics, but has won gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. James did not make the roster for either of those World Cups.
The United States finished seventh and fourth in the last two World Cups, but won four straight Olympic titles from Beijing 2008 to Tokyo 2021.
The last time the U.S. men’s basketball team fielded a “dream team” was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Still reeling from their bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the U.S. assembled some of the NBA’s best players, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing.
The U.S. defeated Croatia 117-85 in the final, by 32 points, 카지노사이트가이드 the smallest margin of victory for a U.S. team at the Barcelona Olympics.
