Expect Team USA to come out of the Olympics 2024 with a vengeance after losing yet another FIBA World Cup last year, as the Stars and Stripes will be aiming to claim their fifth consecutive gold medal in Paris.
The USA are joined in Paris by Spain, Germany, Serbia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Puerto Rico, Japan, Greece, and South Sudan. The Steve Kerr-coached squad remains the prohibitive favourite to win it all, according to the Olympics 2024 odds, but their margin for error isn’t as big as in the years past.
That is because the NBA is as global as it has been, and the USA are not the only nation that has NBA-calibre talent. So, if the Stars and Stripes don’t take this seriously, either one of these countries will fancy their chances of winning the gold medal.
Canada
Canada will be looking to add to their bare medal case, which has only one silver in 1936, and the Paris Olympics gives them their best shot to date.
That is because they have arguably their most stacked roster ever, with 10 of their 12 players currently playing in the NBA, and they have Jordi Fernandez as head coach.
The Maple Leafs kept their bronze-medal winning core from last year’s FIBA World Cup, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Lu Dort leading the way while adding Jamal Murray, Andrew Nembhard, and Trey Lyles to boost their firepower.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the man to watch, as he is coming off a superb 2023-24 campaign with the Oklahoma City Thunder, finishing second in the MVP race and leading the team to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Canada believe they can beat the USA, which was evident in the battle for third place in last year’s FIBA World Cup, although the Americans had a relatively weaker roster at the time.
Germany
Germany are on this list because they’re the defending FIBA World Cup champions after going undefeated throughout last year’s extravaganza.
Like the USA, Die Mannschaft have NBA-calibre talents that can create Olympics 2024 highlights, such as Dennis Schroder, Franz Wagner, Mo Wagner, and Daniel Theis. They also have a couple of serviceable role players, Andreas Obst and Isaac Bonga.
If Germany call up Maxi Kleber and Isaiah Hartenstein from the Mavericks and Thunder, respectively, their frontcourt will be much deeper than most would expect.
France
France have a realistic chance of finally winning the gold medal in their home country because of their virtually unstoppable frontcourt, in particular. Les Bleus not only have one but two seven-footers on their roster, Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert.
Wembanyama is the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year after a solid debut campaign with the Spurs, while Gobert just won his fourth career NBA Defencive Player of the Year trophy after helping the Timberwolves make a deep playoff run.
Because of their presence, especially if head coach Vincent Collet plays them both at the same time, opponents would always have to think twice before attacking the rim.
Besides these two, France also have Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Frank Ntilikina, and Bilal Coulibaly, who can all defend and shoot at a high level.
Serbia
Serbia should also give Team USA all it can handle because they are one of the most well-drilled teams in the world.
And their medal case speaks for itself, as they’ve won silver in the 2014 and 2023 FIBA World Cups and silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nikola Jovic, and Filip Petrusev lead their NBA contingent, while Marko Guduric, Nikola Milutinov, and Ogden Dobric are dangerous as well.
While Serbia are already strong, they will get even stronger if Nikola Jokic returns to the fold. The three-time NBA MVP didn’t play in last year’s FIBA World Cup, so he was sorely missed.
Spain
Believe it or not, Spain may be the dark horse contenders in Paris. They may not be as talented as they once were, with the Gasol brothers and Ricky Rubio spearheading the charge, but they have enough collective experience to potentially win something.
Rudy Fernandez and Sergio Llull are still with the team and will act as the old heads, while Juancho and Willy Hernangomez, Usman Garuba, and Santi Aldama form their frontcourt. Unlike the other teams on this list, Spain had to go through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament to book their tickets to Paris, beating the Bahamas in the final in Valencia to make it.
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