U.S. men's basketball team aiming for fifth consecutive Olympics

South Korea will have 143 athletes participating in the Paris Olympics, which will open on the 27th. This is less than 165 at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which took place 11 years after the Korean War ceasefire. There were 95 fewer than the 238 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was held just before.

The reason why Korea has such a small (?) squad is that it missed the ticket to the finals in all team ball games except women's handball.

In fact, ball games are less popular in other countries than in the previous Olympics. In men's soccer, in which players aged 23 or under participate, a large number of star players have been excluded from the wild card that allows three players per country to play. Japan has not selected any wild card player at all. Among the wild card players participating in this year's event, Argentine striker Julián Álvarez (Manchester City FC) is familiar to soccer fans.

Instead of soccer, which has relatively few star players, men's basketball is the event that sports fans are paying attention to. Basketball is ready to play for the country's honor with a large number of star players playing in the NBA and European big leagues in each country.

Among them, fans are paying attention to the world's strongest U.S. basketball team, which is considered to be the most colorful member since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, which was called the "Dream Team." 에볼루션 바카라사이트

American men's basketball wasn't always the best

When professional players were allowed to participate in the Olympics ahead of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the U.S. formed a national team of 11 NBA superstars and one college player. It was the legendary "Dream Team 1" that included Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Lerry Bird. At that time, the U.S. scored more than 100 points in all games in Barcelona, won by more than 30 points, and won the gold medal in all eight games.

The U.S., which won the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by simultaneously selecting the best centers Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Shaquille O'Neill, won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics after struggling.

However, the U.S. national team was not a "dream team" where players were nervous before they could face off any more. The U.S. team only won the bronze medal after losing to Argentina in the semifinals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where a large number of newcomers including LeBron James and Camelo Anthony took part.

In the 2006 Basketball World Cup, the U.S., which was followed by Greece in the semifinals, formed a team of the late Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, beating Spain in the final to regain the gold medal. At the 2012 London Olympics, a young "fraud unit" called Kevin Durant was added to the Kobe and LeBron combination, and he beat Spain led by the Gasol brothers in the final to win the gold medal.

The U.S. also played in the 2016 Rio Olympics with a large number of star players such as Durant, Anthony, Kyrie Irving, Paul George and Jimmy Butler, but struggled because they failed to adapt to NBA rules and other rules of the International Basketball Federation.

The U.S., which advanced to the finals after hardships, beat Serbia, where promising player Nikola Jokic played, by a gap of 30 points, to make it to the third consecutive Olympics. It was a splendid revival of the U.S. basketball that completely shook off the disappointment of the Athens Olympics.

The U.S. included a large number of new faces for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as many star players refused to participate due to injuries and COVID-19. The U.S. lost to France in its first group match, but avenged to France in the final, winning its fourth consecutive gold medal. However, the U.S. ranked fourth in last year's Basketball World Cup, which included a large number of new players and sought to change generations, eroding the pride of a basketball powerhouse once again.

Superstars banded together for "The Last Flame."

As the U.S. basketball became a mockery due to the sluggishness of last year's Basketball World Cup, veteran LeBron James urged his teammates to "burn the last flame." Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, and Durant responded positively. After that, the U.S., which filled the national team roster in the names of NBA's representative superstars, completed a spectacular roster of 12 players with the addition of Derek White, the winner of the Boston Celtics, instead of Kawhi Leonard, who was injured.

Prior to its participation in the Olympics, the U.S. played in warm-up matches against Canada, Australia, Serbia, South Sudan and Germany, and secured all five matches. Of course, the U.S. struggled hard against South Sudan, trailing only 16 points at one point before winning the match, and failed to display satisfactory performance in matches against Australia and Germany. Coach Steve Kerr focused on checking conditions by evenly playing all players except Durant, who was absent from the warm-up matches due to injury.

In fact, not many basketball fans expect an easy gold medal from the U.S. at the Paris Olympics. In particular, France, a home team led by "Epeltop" Rudy Gobert, a four-time defender of the year, and "New Man" Victor Wembanyama, who won the block and rookie award in the 2023-2024 season, is considered the strongest opponent of the U.S. In addition, Canada, which includes eight NBA players, Serbia, led by "genius" Jokic, and Germany, the winner of last year's Basketball World Cup, are also teams that can fully compete with the U.S.

However, the U.S. is not its biggest enemy, but the U.S. itself, as every tournament is. If the U.S. players, who are treated as superstars with astronomical salaries in the NBA, do not regard the Olympics as an important event or look down on their opponents, they may suffer greatly or be caught up by a lower-ranked team. For Coach Steve Kerr, it is more important to make the players maintain their minds steadily during the tournament than to devise clever tactics.

Not to mention LeBron James, who is 39 years old, Curry and Durant, who turned veteran and the same age in 1988, cannot be guaranteed to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics four years later. Of course, some players will participate in the Olympics for the first time, while others will be like Curry and Anthony Edwards, who already have three Olympic gold medals, but all players have the same commitment to winning the gold medal. Will the U.S. national basketball team be able to achieve the feat of winning five consecutive Olympics in Paris.