The USA Men’s Olympics Basketball Team has been finalized with the Paris Olympics just three months away. This “Avengers” roster has been unofficially compiled to avenge the disappointing campaign at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where a younger USA squad couldn’t even secure the bronze medal. LeBron James and Stephen Curry were among the first ones to declare that they would put on the USA jersey and show the world that America is still the number one hooping nation. In this wake, Gilbert Arenas recently highlighted the flip side of the debate – that if the team fails to secure the Gold medal, the media will blame LeBron James for it.
This discussion was prompted on Arenas’ pod, Gil’s Arena, when co-host Josiah Johnson queried, “Who is the Alpha on this team?”, and who’ll be blamed for the team’s failures. Rashad McCants expressed that if Kobe Bryant had failed to secure the Gold in the 2008 Olympics, then he’d have had to shoulder the burden, as the most experienced and accomplished athlete on the team. Therefore, for McCants, a similar parameter will apply to LBJ, who is indeed the most experienced player on the current team.
Arenas agreed that in the current media landscape, James would be in the crosshairs if the USA didn’t secure a gold medal. “The reason it will be on Bron because he was the first one to come out and basically unite the team. It’ll fall on him. Let’s just be honest, there’s no way the media today would not make it fall on him. He can average 30 in the motherfu**er and still Bron’s fault. ‘Shouldn’t be averaging 30, should have been more team ball,’” Arenas said.
The whole Gil’s Arena squad was in agreement with this notion. However, for the members of the team, the 2024 NBA Larry O’Brien trophy takes precedence for now. The elite players who couldn’t make the cut, know they can make a winning statement during the postseason.
The USA 2024 Olympics Basketball Team will take a backseat till June
Jalen Brunson has done an exceptional job of carrying the Knicks to the second seed in the East in the absence of Julius Randle. He looked like a potential choice for the USA team. However, he hasn’t been named in the USA roster. When asked about his absence from the Olympic team, Brunson didn’t pay much heed to the question. His Knicks are going to take on the 76ers in the first round after all. Therefore, the Joel Embiid match-up is a much bigger cause of concern for the 6’1″ guard.
“I was just focused on playoffs, I didn’t even look at the list,” Brunson said on the matter.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving had a much more detailed analysis of his snub. He opined that he isn’t going to mesh with the current roster. Irving expressed, “I wish my brothers the best. I just wasn’t a good fit for this team.” At the same time, he pointed out the lack of tryouts to finalize the roster.
He admitted that such a practice didn’t alter the plans of the selection committee. Still, it made for a healthy hoops culture. “I also grew up at a time when we actually had to try out for USA (basketball). We met as a group and as peers,” added Irving.
