The U.S. men’s national basketball team reasserted its dominance in the Olympics, winning its fifth straight gold medal in the Paris Games.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Red, White, and Blue, though, as Serbia and France made the squad work hard in the semifinal and final rounds. The roster could have definitely benefitted from not stiffing Kyrie Irving and adding the Dallas Mavericks star to the roster.
USA Basketball has plenty of work to do to keep its Olympic streak rolling, especially since Steve Kerr could be stepping down from his head coaching position for Team USA. Erik Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue appear on track as Kerr’s successor, although Jason Kidd would be the perfect coach to take on the mantle.
Of course, the U.S. must also be wary of its competition in the quadrennial event continuing to improve.
Team USA legend Carmelo Anthony shared that sentiment on a recent episode of his podcast (at 1:13:13), “7 PM in Brooklyn,” believing that other countries have developed enough to put up a challenge against a stacked American squad.
When his co-host, Kid Mero, pointed out that there might be some youngsters in Europe who aren’t afraid of the U.S., Anthony replied, “You seeing one right now and playing for the Dallas Mavericks.”
Chances are the retired legend, a four-time Olympian who had battled plenty of global hoops stars, was referring to Luka Doncic. At 25, the Slovenian phenom has shown the ability to dominate in the NBA and the international stage.
While the five-time NBA All-Star couldn’t lead Slovenia to Paris this year, he did steer his squad to its first-ever Olympic berth in the Tokyo Games. It didn’t take long for him to strut his stuff in the tournament, posting 48 points in his debut game against Argentina.
Doncic became just the third player to record a triple-double in Olympic men’s basketball history after putting up 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 18 assists against France in the semifinals. Unfortunately, Slovenia lost by a point after Nicolas Batum blocked a potential game-winner by Klemen Prepelic.
