2020 United States men's Olympic basketball team

2020 United States men's Olympic basketball team
Head coachGregg Popovich
2020 Summer Olympics
Scoring leaderKevin Durant
20.7
Rebounding leaderBam Adebayo
5.7
Assists leaderJrue Holiday
3.8
Biggest win54 vs. Iran 
Biggest defeat7 vs. France 
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Team colours
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Away jersey
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The men's national basketball team of the United States won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympics were delayed a year until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] It was the fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal for the Americans. Team USA qualified for the Olympics by finishing as one of the top two teams from the Americas at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2019.[2]

The U.S. saw two Olympic gold medal winners in Kevin Durant (2012, 2016) and Draymond Green (2016) return, while 10 other players made their Olympic debuts. Unlike the 2019 World Cup team that finished in seventh place with a team of traditional centers and limited shooting, the Olympic team featured multi-positional players and adept shooters.[3] After the disappointing World Cup, in which only four of the initial 35 candidates were on the final roster,[4] star players began openly expressing an interest in joining the Olympic team.[5][6] While other countries had a core roster that has played together for years in multiple international tournaments, the U.S. team changed every year.[7][8][9]

Complicating the decision for National Basketball Association (NBA) players to commit to the Olympics was the pandemic's impact on the league's schedule. The 2020 NBA Finals did not end until October 11, 2020.[10] Although the start of the 2020–21 NBA season was delayed,[11] it still began 71 days after the prior Finals, as opposed to the usual 100 days or more.[1] The season was condensed with many back-to-back games.[10] While the 2021 Finals were scheduled to allow players time to travel to Tokyo,[12] the playoffs were ongoing while other countries were practicing.[11] The delayed season cut into Team USA's time to gel and learn to play as a team.[13] Moreover, three team members played in the Finals, which did not conclude until July 20, and they missed all of training camp and the pre-Olympic exhibitions in Las Vegas.[10][14] The United States played their first game in the Olympics on July 25.[14]

  1. ^ a b Finger, Mike (June 12, 2021). "Mike Finger: As Gregg Popovich prepares for Olympics, which stars will join him?". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "U.S. beats Brazil to reach World Cup quarters". ESPN.com. Associated Press. September 8, 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  3. ^ Windhorst, Brian (June 23, 2021). "Returning gold medalist Kevin Durant, first-time Olympians highlight USA Basketball roster". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  4. ^ "'We're still the best': Stephen Curry commits to playing in 2020 Olympics". The Guardian. Reuters. September 18, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  5. ^ Reynolds, Tim (October 1, 2019). "Gold standards: Many NBA players considering 2020 Olympics". Associated Press. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  6. ^ Botkin, Brad (September 18, 2019). "Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard commit to 2020 Olympics, and USA Basketball's latest redemption tour has begun". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  7. ^ Wolken, Dan (July 22, 2021). "Opinion: Danger and drama are very real for US men's basketball team at Tokyo Olympics". USA Today. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference windhost_07222021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Keh, Andrew (July 26, 2021). "Why U.S. Basketball May Not Coast Through the Olympics". The New York Times. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "Adebayo gets 2nd Olympics chance". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Waters, Mike (July 28, 2021). "Jim Boeheim on struggling U.S. men's Olympic basketball team: 'They're not done'". The Post-Standard. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  12. ^ Dunbar, Graham (May 23, 2021). "National teams wait on NBA stars for Olympic qualifier games". Associated Press. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  13. ^ Germano, Sara (July 26, 2021). "US basketball's 'Dream Team' era fades away after first Olympic loss in 17 years". Financial Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021. The pandemic-delayed NBA season concluded only last Wednesday, which meant some players, including Holiday and Middleton of the champion Milwaukee Bucks, arrived in Japan about a day before the opening game against France. The lengthy season has also left less time for the US players to gel and learn how to play as a unit.
  14. ^ a b Jenkins, Bruce (June 16, 2021). "Will Draymond Green, Damian Lillard entice other big names to play in Olympics?". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 25, 2021.