When NBA players were let to play and the Dream Team dominated the rest of the globe in 1992, Olympic basketball underwent permanent transformation. Since then, Team USA has only settled for the bronze in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games; it has won the gold medal at seven of the eight Olympic Games.
Like the Dream Team in 1992, this year's Olympic squad straddles two eras with icons from the past joined by the next wave of NBA talent: LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant. From 1936 in Berlin to 1988 in Seoul, when the Soviet Union defeated the Americans and compelled the finest American college basketball players into action, the US nevertheless won gold at nine of the first 12 Olympic Games that featured basketball, when it was only the young stars.
Coming off a 101-100 victory against South Sudan, 43.5-point favorites in a tune-up game before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games could find it difficult to bring home the gold medal this summer. That makes it a difficult case for the US to revert to the collegiates, but perhaps a coherent squad of young studs, not veterans all jockeying for legacy points, might compete effectively against the rest of the world.
Answered 3 days ago
Rajesh Kumar
When NBA players were let to play and the Dream Team dominated the rest of the globe in 1992, Olympic basketball underwent permanent transformation. Since then, Team USA has only settled for the bronze in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games; it has won the gold medal at seven of the eight Olympic Games.
Like the Dream Team in 1992, this year's Olympic squad straddles two eras with icons from the past joined by the next wave of NBA talent: LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant. From 1936 in Berlin to 1988 in Seoul, when the Soviet Union defeated the Americans and compelled the finest American college basketball players into action, the US nevertheless won gold at nine of the first 12 Olympic Games that featured basketball, when it was only the young stars.
Coming off a 101-100 victory against South Sudan, 43.5-point favorites in a tune-up game before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games could find it difficult to bring home the gold medal this summer. That makes it a difficult case for the US to revert to the collegiates, but perhaps a coherent squad of young studs, not veterans all jockeying for legacy points, might compete effectively against the rest of the world.