The US Men’s Basketball Team is the favorite to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, their path to victory won’t be as easy as it has been in the past. Despite fielding a team as star-studded as the 1992 Dream Team, Rachel Nichols believes that the meteoric rise of European nations in basketball means the USA likely won’t register 40-point wins as they did in previous editions.
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On Undisputed, the analyst noted that international teams aren’t only significantly more talented than they were in the past, but most play fundamentally sound basketball and have talented three-point shooters. She claimed that it’s unlikely any team would beat the stacked US roster, but added that they’ll have to be wary and not take their foot off the pedal. Nichols said,
“You have to remember that not only the rest of the world caught up in general with international basketball, but the rise of three-pointer means there is a guy on every one of the top four or five teams, who could get hot and start hitting a bunch of threes and we know, that can sometimes be the ball game, which in the single elimination game, which this will get to be from the Quarter-Finals on, that matters. All that being said, the US should win the Gold!”
“The USA just waltzing its way to a gold medal? Those days are over.”
— @Rachel__Nichols pic.twitter.com/SwfX5hULAj
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 17, 2024
Nichols is spot-on about basketball’s global growth. Team USA sent an inexperienced roster to the 2023 FIBA World Cup, and suffered brutal consequences, as they finished a lowly fourth. Their embarrassing result prompted them to seek revenge and they responded by assembling one of the best Team USA rosters ever for the Paris Olympics, which is expected to cruise to the gold medal. However, Skip Bayless joined Nichols in warning the team to take the competition seriously.
Skip Bayless also believes it won’t be a cakewalk for Team USA
Skip Bayless expressed skepticism about Team USA dominating in the Olympics. The veteran analyst claimed that the difference in rules, officiating, and the continuity that other teams exercise could catch them off-guard. He said,
“Very quickly you have to find a chemistry that these other squads already have because these other squads have literally grown up together… If you catch in a one-and-done situation, one team with hot hand, a couple of hot hands, you can get in trouble.”
While both Bayless and Nichols are harping on about being cautious, neither believes any team has what it takes to upset Team USA in the Olympics. France and Canada have strong rosters on paper, but neither has the talent depth that Team USA is bringing to Paris. It’ll be tougher to win the gold than it was in the past. However, the possibility of Team USA losing out on a gold medal is miniscule.
