Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Our oldheads have shined and hung around for so long — LeBron James played in his first Olympic Games 20 years ago — now, they’ll compete against a new world order before finally calling it quits. James (39), Steph Curry (36) and Kevin Durant (35) might have a couple-few NBA seasons left in their tanks, but they’ll be chilling in the wings offstage when the Summer Games reach Los Angeles in 2028.
James is the last link to Team USA’s last failure in men’s basketball when we won bronze at the 2004 Olympics. It’s unfair to say third place equals failing, but such is life for our national team, which has dominated since turning to NBA talent in 1992. James was a teenage sensation in 2004, the only time the U.S. failed to win gold with pro players.
The U.S. can accept losing in sports like badminton and field hockey, but it believes in basketball supremacy like manifest destiny; like America is preordained to sit atop the world’s hoops hierarchy. We showed them with the “Dream Team” in 1992, unleashing Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan on the awestruck and overmatched opponents.
James helped us bounce back from bronze when the 2008 “Redeem Team” restored America to its presumably rightful place on the podium, the first of four consecutive gold medals. But the global talent gap keeps shrinking, with a growing number of international NBA players and competitive national teams looking to take us down. That’s why the U.S. has sent the “Supreme Team,” its most talented squad since 1992.
And there’s still no guarantee it’ll be enough.
“It’s remarkable to see the talent in front of me as I’m addressing the team,” U.S. Coach Steve Kerr said recently. “But a big part of the message is, this is not 1992. Steph and I are not going to be like [1992 U.S. Coach] Chuck Daly and Mike [Jordan]; we’re not playing golf every day in France. I know Chuck and Michael had a great time together on game days playing 36 [holes]. Those days are long gone. We have our hands full. Despite the amazing roster we have, FIBA is tough.”
The U.S. roster is stacked, but top international opponents’ familiarity with teammates and the international rules can compensate for their talent deficit. Team USA is heavily favored to win its 16th gold medal, but outings like last week’s scare against South Sudan prove we could be vulnerable.
Unlike South Sudan, which isn’t expected to medal, opponents like Canada, France and Germany feature multiple NBA players. Team USA won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but took an L along the way against silver medalist France. Germany won gold last year at basketball’s World Cup, while the U.S. finished fourth behind Serbia and Canada.
Realizing the world is catching up, USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill told James during a Lakers game last year, “Hey, man, we need you in Paris.” Hill eventually added Curry (making his first Olympics appearance) and Durant (Team USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer) to a roster that also includes Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid and Devin Booker, trying to ensure a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Throwing MVPs and All-NBA players together used to be sufficient for Team USA to prevail. But now other nations feature MVPs and All-NBAs, too, like Serbia’s Nikola Jokic and Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. France is led by NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.
No longer intimidated by seeing “USA” across our jerseys, opponents today are inspired to try beating our ass.
“It’s good to have some competition,” James said Monday after Team USA squeaked by Germany in a scrimmage. “We love that. All of these games have been real because we didn’t have that much time to get better. We’ve only been together for two weeks. We got the opportunity to improve and I think we did over these last few games.”
He doesn’t want to become the national team’s first NBA player with two non-gold Olympic medals. Curry wishes to avoid ignominy in his Olympics debut. Durant, who’s been limited by injury in the run-up to Paris, is looking to prove he’s still dependable on the world stage. But they can go all out and not worry about the changing landscape that awaits younger players like Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton.
The odds of coming up short will increase with each passing Olympiad. Team USA tips off on Sunday, beginning perhaps its last best chance for gold, once again blessed with the world’s most talented squad. Maybe we’ll always stake that claim, but it won’t always lead to a happy ending. And we won’t have James, Curry and Durant any longer, which is fine. The youngbloods have to hold it down after this.
Let’s enjoy the OGs in Paris while we can.
Deron Snyder, from Brooklyn, is an award-winning columnist who lives near D.C. and pledged Alpha at HU-You Know! He’s reaching high, lying low, moving on, pushing off, keeping up, and throwing down. Got it? Get more at blackdoorventures.com/deron.