Let’s face it, if Team USA had not gone undefeated and brought home the gold medal from the Paris Olympics, we would be talking about how much of a failure the team was. Stocked with some of the NBA’s best talent and at least two of the Top 20 players of all time in the NBA LeBron James and Steph Curry, USA basketball understood that anything besides a gold medal would be frowned upon at home.
Years ago, the USA would send its All-Star college team to compete in the Olympics. It would dominate basketball in the Olympic games, even though it was played with international rules which have several differences to American basketball. In 1988, the USA basketball team brought home bronze after losing to Russia. In defense of that team, other countries were allowed to use professional basketball players, while the Olympics were during a time when the top college prospects heading to the NBA were expected to be in camp with their respective NBA teams. This literally sent a depleted college All-Star team to defend our country’s honor at the Olympic games.
That all changed in late 1988 as FIBA, the governing body of international basketball, allowed the USA to use NBA players in the Olympics. What followed was the USA showing its complete dominance of the world on the biggest stage.
Known as the “Dream Team,” a cadre of historic proportions donned the red, white, and blue and put an exclamation point on Olympic basketball and forever changed the game. Led by Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, he was joined by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Carl Malone, Chris Mullen, and Christian Laettner. Laettner’s choice was controversial as many Americans felt that Shaquille O’Neal should have been given that spot.
The team had to break normal Olympic protocol and not stay in the Olympic village. It had to be sheltered away because of the distractions the team would have caused. They did what they came to do which was obliterate the competition. Their closest game was a 32-point win over Croatia. They opened play with the most lopsided victory in history with a 68-point win over Angola. It was so dominant that the teams they were beating often asked them for autographs after the game.
The 2024 team was comprised of several all-time NBA greats. LeBron James, Curry, and Kevin Durant led the team and have established themselves as some of American basketball’s greatest. It doesn’t however dampen the weight put on the shoulders of the team to win gold or bust at the Paris Olympics.
As expected the second American basketball player to carry the American flag during the opening ceremonies would win the Most Valuable Player award. While Steph Curry certainly pulled the American team through the last two tough games, James was most certainly the consistent dominant force. As one of the USA’s only self-made billionaires, James was laser-focused on bringing home his third Olympic gold medal to the United States.