Why Team USA Basketball Will Keep Getting Worse

Team USA basketball will keep getting worse. #nba

In 2012, Team USA with one of the best rosters assembled beat Nigeria by 83 points. In 2021, Team USA played Nigeria again and lost. And just two weeks ago, they didn’t even get a medal in FIBA 2023.

Who was on the roster…oh. Before 2021, USA basketball had only 5 losses..in 85 years. 3 of those losses happened in 2004, the worst performance in USA basketball history. So when Team USA loses in basketball it’s a big deal.

If we take a look at the roster this year, not a single player had ever been part of a world cup or Olympics before and only had 3 all-stars in total. Anthony Edwards was our best individual player and that’s part of piece #1 players are more concerned with resting than representing the country.

We went from this to this.

Yet this time, it wasn’t due to injuries that some of the best players said no. Rather, the offseason is for rest and that’s fair, especially if you had a deep playoff run. But we’re in the age of load management. Players are already sitting out NBA games, voluntary extra games seems far fetched. In 2019, LeBron, Curry, Kawhi, Harden, everyone said no for the World Cup. There was only one All-NBA player on the roster.

Kevin Durant, Paul George, Lillard, Bam, everyone said no this year. Leading to players with no All-NBA players on the roster this year. So the roster was filled with several first time international players.

It all changed one day during the 2006 FIBA World Cup in Japan when Coach Mike Krzyzewski was coaching Team USA for the very first time… and it didn’t go NEARLY as expected… well at least for the players, namely guys like LeBron and Dwight Howard. You see… during an exhibition game versus Lithuania, Coach K absolutely obliterated Dwight Howard for dosing off on defense and how he was defending the pick-and-roll… and Dwight Howard — a bonefied star and probably the best center in the NBA at the time — didn’t LIKE IT!

In 2007 Team USA would have a scrimmage with their full roster, a duel between LeBron and Kobe in which Kobe hit a game winner, a whole year early. The main players were set, not some random last minute team.

But, no… it didn’t end there… because Coach K took Kobe aside one day when they were watching film on there games… and said to the best player in the world “Those were some bull—t shots.” He directly questioned Kobe’s shot selection…

But to Kobe’s credit… he responded with a simple, “OK, I gotcha, coach.”

And then came 2008… a new era, new time… what we famously remember at the Redeem Team! It had been two years now since Coach K was introduced, the stage was set, and the players were locked in…

Coach K appointed Kobe and LeBron as the leaders of the team. Kobe made it his mission to one up him in competitiveness… diving on the floor in practice, intense defense, and it set the tone for the rest of the guys on the roster

As the USA went on to go a perfect 8-and-0 in the tournament and bring gold back to the territory it belongs… the team didn’t just go on to become the notorious ‘Redeem Team’ — the United States took stake as number one with a winning identity and a championship culture.

2016 might’ve been Coach K’s last year on the Olympic stage… but he didn’t go out without helping deliver a third straight gold medal…

No LeBron, no Kobe, no D-Wade, no CP3… no PROBLEM!

Team USA has since struggled with the X’s and O’s, and with the foundational aspect of the game…

Olympic competition has grown massive, international talent has evolved RAPIDLY… to the point that the chemistry and attitude Coach K instilled is now more crucial than ever and needed to win games, something that’s missing.

Those were the words of the late Kobe Bryant going back to 2019 when Team USA strung together some L’s in the FIBA games. And that’s piece #3 competition is much more difficult now, the game is more international.

Team USA was outscored 16-2 over the closing minutes of the ballgame while France looked like a well-oiled machine on both ends with all their players in cahoots with the gameplan! Team USA, though they had far better talent… scored just 11 points in the third quarter… proving that talent can only take you so far.

If we backtrack to 2008… there were just 17 NBA players that played internationally, but not for Team USA. In 2016, that number grew so much that now just TWO of the 12 competing teams in the Rio Olympics didn’t have at least one NBA player on their roster…

So what’s the solution?

Finding a coach who is able to handle several personalities while still being respected and listened is tough, but one coach comes to mind and that’s Erik Spoelstra who has made literally any squad whether it’s filled with stars or filled with undrafted players get to the finals. So Team USA, get it done.