On Friday, superstar forward LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers added gasoline to the fire around rumors that he would play for Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, and Kawhi Leonard are some of the players depicted in a graphic that was published by SportsCenter on Instagram. The picture was developed by The Dunk Central and shows a probable lineup for the United States Olympic team in 2024.
LeBron James responded to the post with the emoji for “considering,” which suggested that he is at the very least mulling over the idea of participating in the Olympics.
James was a member of the United States team that won bronze in the 2004 Summer Olympics and gold in both 2008 and 2012, however he decided not to compete in either the 2016 or 2020 Olympics.
The fact that Team USA was eliminated from the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Friday by Germany with a score of 113-111 means that they will not be able to win the World Cup for a second consecutive year. This certainly led to the creation of the Olympic post.
The United States of America finished ninth at the FIBA World Cup in 2019, which was their lowest finish ever at the tournament. However, they were able to redeem themselves and win gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics with a squad that featured stars such as Durant, Tatum, Lillard, and Booker.
It was the fourth consecutive gold medal for Team USA in men’s basketball at the Olympics, and it gave hope to a World Cup bounce back, but the United States cannot finish higher than third place.
Even though the United States was a heavy favorite to win the FIBA World Cup and had a strong squad, none of the great superstars that the United States is known for were on the team.
In point of fact, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, and Jaren Jackson Jr. were the only players on the Team USA roster who had also been named to the NBA All-Star team during the previous season.
The roster for the Olympic competition in 2020 featured a greater number of stars, but even that group was without key players such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, and Anthony Davis, so it was not as dominant as it could have been.
Although the 1992 Dream Team set the bar for the United States national basketball team and is unlikely to be surpassed, the hypothetical team that was posed by The Dunk Central might be considered to be the most similar to the Dream Team to date.
It is unknown at this time whether or not James, who is currently 38 years old, will continue to compete in the Olympics until 2028, when he will be 43 years old, thus it is possible that this may be his final Olympic performance.
There is little doubt that Team USA would be a more complete and dangerous team with LeBron James, the all-time leading scorer in the NBA and perhaps the finest player in the world, as a member of the squad. Despite the fact that Team USA has maintained their position at the top of the basketball world at the last two Olympics without LeBron, they have been successful.
