In July and August of 2024, the Summer Olympic Games will take place in Paris, France. One of the most popular events is basketball, and there is one team that has dominated the competition and is looking to do it again...Team USA.
Although Team USA has won 4 straight gold medals in the Olympics, in the FIBA World Cup, they haven’t gotten a medal since 2014. In 2023, the United States' fourth place finish caused players like LeBron James to show extreme interest in joining the Olympic team in Paris.
This team will be led by Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who will be assisted by many other coaches like Gonzaga’s Mark Few, who has led the team to the Sweet Sixteen or higher in each of the last 3 seasons, including a National Championship appearance.
On January 23, 2024, USA Basketball announced a 41 player pool for the 2024 Olympics. Below is my prediction for the starting 5 lineup plus a 6th man:
Point Guard: Stephen Curry
Shooting Guard: Anthony Edwards
Small Forward: Jayson Tatum
Power Forward: Lebron James
Center: Joel Embiid
6th Man: Kevin Durant
This lineup doesn’t even include many other great players like Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Jaylen Brown, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Davis, De’Aaron Fox, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, etc. The only problem about this player pool is that it's unknown how many of these players will opt-in, or may be injured when the teams are chosen.
In preparation for the Olympic Games, the team will participate in the USA Basketball Showcase, where the team will play Canada in Las Vegas, then South Sudan and Germany in London. These will all take place in mid to late July right before the Opening Ceremony on the 26th, followed by the first group stage games on the 27th.
I believe that this pool of players has a great shot at winning the Olympics for the 5th time in a row, and maybe even the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar. But who knows? With the rise of France's Victor Wenbanyama, anything could happen in this new era of international basketball.
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