Anytime Team USA doesn’t get a gold medal in a world basketball competition, it seems like the country came up short. So when the Steve Kerr-led USA squad lost to Canada in the bronze medal game of the FIBA World Cup this past weekend, it was a major disappointment.
As Kerr told reporters after the team’s semifinals loss to Germany, “It’s not 1992 anymore.” But Team USA could have a Dream Team feel if this generation of basketball stars unites for one last run.
According to The Athletic, LeBron James has spoken with players like Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant about putting together an actual ‘A’ team for Team USA for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Other players who are “prepared to commit” or “have serious interest in committing” include Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, De’Aaron Fox and Kyrie Irving.
The Athletic reported that LeBron started to try and recruit people before the recent World Cup and that the decision has nothing to do with the country’s sour result in the Philippines.
“James, who has not played for Team USA since the 2012 Games in London and will turn 39 in December, and Durant, a three-time Olympian and gold medalist who will be 35 by next summer, are viewing the Paris games as a ‘last dance’ with USA Basketball,” sources told The Athletic. “Curry, who will be 36, has never played in an Olympics but won two World Cups in 2010 and 2014 with the American team and is viewing next summer similarly. James, Durant and Curry have spoken to one another about one last USA run, together, sources said.”
If true, this would be quite the spectacle for American basketball and the sport at large. While Team USA has won four straight Olympic gold medals since finishing with the bronze medal in 2004 at Athens, the team finished seventh in the 2019 World Cup before the most recent fourth-place finish.
Team USA could have serious Dubs vibes if Kerr, Curry and Draymond (and Durant?) are on the squad. Curry has never played in the Olympics, but did help Team USA win the FIBA World Cup in 2010 and 2014. Draymond was part of the Olympic gold medal-winning squads from 2016 and 2021. Kerr is under the microscope after the team’s awful defensive performance in the World Cup and for the way he managed rotations, but is locked in for the next Olympic cycle to lead the team.
Even if just a handful of the reported interested players follow through with their commitments, it would be a massive upgrade over the recent team that featured players like Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Tyrese Haliburton. Those are good players for sure, but not the contemporary greatness that this generation of USA ballers can get together. In fact, Team USA failed to have any players register in the top 10 of points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, blocks per game or steals per game in the FIBA World Cup.
At this point it’s just a rumor, but this reported 2024 Team USA squad could go down with the Dream Team of 1992 and the Redeem Team of 2008 as one of the greatest collections of basketball talent on the same team that we’ve ever seen. Considering that a majority of the reported players are likely nearing the end of their careers, there would be no cooler way for this generation to go out than with an Olympic gold medal.