The 2024 USA men’s basketball team wanted go out with a bang, as in the last Olympic go-round for all-time greats LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Steph Curry.
Add in a few semi-oldies and MVP candidates Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis and they can make the 2024 Paris Olympics their own version of The Dream Team.
Basically this was going to be LeBron’s team. And they would claim to be a real Dream Team considering the “bums” the 1992 USA team, Michael Jordan’s team, beat up in Barcelona.
That was the back-room agreement we weren’t really supposed to know about.
It probably could’ve worked, with great media support, but then Leonard, who can’t even play 70 games in an 82-game NBA season, opted out because of injury.
Then he was replaced by Derrick White, which was a good choice because of his all-around, unselfish play, but that ticked off Jaylen Brown, the reigning NBA Finals MVP.
Then we heard Durant had a calf issue, which raised eyebrows remembering his Achilles injury in the 2019 playoffs, and wasn’t practicing.
Then we got the worst moment for the USA men. Jayson Tatum, of the defending NBA champion Celtics, was benched in a nice win over Serbia; didn’t play a second.
But instead of the celebrating that impressive victory and Durant’s elite performance, head coach Steve Kerr had to answer questions about not playing Celtics star Jayson Tatum.
Kerr called himself “an idiot” for not playing Tatum, which is comical because he idiotically told Tatum before the game he probably wasn’t going to play.
A lot of drama, huh?
Well, I believe more is coming.
I believe this team is not a team. Not even close. LeBron is USA’s best player, like it or lump it.
Tatum and Brown are collateral damage. Who cares, right?
You don’t build a team and then still have to defend after the Olympics have started.
You play eight guys a lot. You play two guys a little. And, unless you want to throw some dudes into a blowout, two guys don’t play.
The other issue is the rest of the world has caught up to USA men’s basketball. They have closed the gap to almost even.
It’s going to be funny when Tatum goes from not playing to first guy off the bench against South Sudan (today at 3 p.m.).
Team USA is not a team right now. and that’s not a good thing with some real Olympic teams playing their games without the drama.
These teams do not fear “us” or “USA” any more. Not in basketball.
I believe the USA men and their penchant for drama don’t win a gold medal.
And then the drama will really begin.
You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.