The 1992 Olympics, which saw the Dream Team dominate the world stage, was an important marker in making the sport of basketball more global. Since then, several players and nations have put themselves on the basketball map and have proven that they can compete with the American team in International competitions.
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However, even today, the USA is the most dominant team in the world as they proved in the Paris Olympics. But the gap between them and the rest of the teams isn’t as big as it used to be. On the 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast, NBA veteran Carmelo Anthony talked about the changing landscape of basketball and how Team USA has managed to retain its position globally.
He also discussed the competition for Team USA in international competitions moving forward.
When asked by Kid Mero which countries have impressed him with their development in recent years, Melo said, “When I first came into the game, we had countries like Argentina, Lithuania…Spain was a powerhouse. This is information that people here probably won’t even be understanding.”
Anthony also named the Dirk Nowitzki-led Germany as a competitor in the past. But the problem with most foreign teams were that they were mostly dependent on quality players to make an impact. They didn’t have a system in place like the USA. That’s why they couldn’t sustain their impact on the global stage.
That’s why Melo doesn’t think that the world has caught up yet. He added, “I love where the game is at. I wouldn’t say the world has caught up. I say the world has developed and there’s still certain parts of the world that’s undeveloped, and those places are going to take time to get to where some of those countries are at right now.”
Melo said that currently France is a strong challenger for Team USA, and as we saw in the gold medal game, they went neck to neck with one of the best teams ever assembled. Serbia is another team that gave USA a lot of trouble in the Olympics.
Players like Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo can cause trouble with a group of passionate players beside them. Canada and Germany are also becoming strong basketball powerhouses.
But these nations won’t be able to compete with Team USA unless they have a system and culture in place like America to get talented young players every year in numbers.
