The Team USA basketball team will always have expectations of winning it all on the international stage. There are other factors that are often overlooked when judging the performance or success of any team. But the fact of the matter remains that except for a couple of select players, members on the American roster would easily be picked for the teams of any other nation and would comfortably start. This means that the expectations are going to be gold or bust, no matter what anyone says.
So as they cruised to a relatively comfortable 98-87 over France, the win wasn't appreciated. Instead, winning it all at this level serves more to quiet skeptics and critics, but only momentarily. And even then more is made of how they won and how Steve Kerr allocated playing time. But to the individuals playing, that is all background noise that can be ignored. Anyone who's competed knows that even when you are the prohibitive favorites, nothing is a guarantee.
Furthermore, as seen by Serbia and Nikola Jokic winning bronze regardless of who is playing, everyone takes playing for their country and playing in the Olympics very seriously. It's no longer reasonable to expect the American side to bring home a gold medal untouched or for things to be 'easy'. In fact, unless the United States fields its best available players, making the podium would be a tough task. That is to say the competition will only increase, and even with the clear-cut best roster, the coaching, play, and chemistry continue to be a work in progress.
Everyone involved knows how difficult it was to even make it to the final game. But this Olympic run was about more than adding stats or another medal. Instead, it was about reestablishing and cementing the place of Team USA Basketball on the world stage. There have been plenty of examples in recent history in which other countries have taken advantage of program lapses and showed that the best collective effort is needed to truly be considered the best at this point.
So when LeBron James nicknames and dubs this iteration of the team 'The Avengers,' there is plenty of meaning behind his word choice here. Individually, there is undoubtedly a lot of talent. Moreover, if an event were to be added that emphasized iso-ball, like 'King-of-the-Hill,' then the margins here may not be particularly close. But the 5v5 version of the game obviously dictates the need for team play and favors programs that have been able to grow up and establish a history of playing together.
Mindset shift from Team USA
This is a lot of why past American teams have struggled. Due to the short time to work together and to establish team roles, a lot has been left to chance and left to being figured out during the Games themselves. Noticing and looking to correct this glaring issue, people like Grant Hill have done their best to mitigate the time needed to figure things out when tip-off happened.
Instead, there is more emphasis and focus on picking players who are all in, who are willing to put in the collective work, and who are open to coaching. This is all true while maintaining what's brilliant and spectacular about the play of those like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.
It's far from a perfect recipe, but with all of this in mind and given the apt nickname from James for Team USA, this gold medal deserves to be celebrated. The players, coaches, and support staff sacrificed of themselves while bringing their best efforts to the table, and it paid off in Paris 2024.
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