The trio of O'Neal, Robinson, and Olajuwon combined for 37 All-Star appearances, eight NBA championships, and three MVP awards (one apiece). Making his only Olympic appearance after being passed over for Christian Laettner four years prior, Shaq featured in arguably the deepest center rotation in national team history. The Americans carried over five players from the previous Summer Games and dominated in similar fashion, going undefeated with an average margin of victory of 32.3 points. Olympic squad put on quite a show on home soil. Bernstein / National Basketball Association / Gettyįollowing the "Dream Team" was a tall order, but the 1996 U.S. had to battle for another competitive victory in the gold-medal game versus France, but the 2000 tournament will always be remembered for "le dunk de la mort" - " the dunk of death." 4. Lithuania had one last chance at the upset, but star guard Sarunas Jasikevicius was unable to fire a potential game-winning triple at the buzzer as Team USA eked out an 85-83 win. With just over 30 seconds remaining, Vince Carter hit a clutch floater to put the Americans in front by one. The two countries met again in the semifinals and produced one of the most memorable affairs in Olympic history. The United States' 85-76 preliminary win against Lithuania marked the first time an American team with professional players failed to win by double digits. The Stars and Stripes ended up having enough talent to keep its spot atop the Olympic podium, but not before playing some nerve-racking games. Unlike the 19 editions, the 2000 American squad wasn't flush with NBA champions or MVPs after several stars elected not to suit up. Carmelo Anthony - playing in his fourth and almost certainly final Olympic tournament - ranked second in team scoring with 12.1 points per game. The Americans improved in the knockout stage, though, beating Spain by six in the semifinal before romping over Serbia with a 30-point victory in the final.ĭurant led the way, averaging 19.4 points in eight games. The squad endured three scares in preliminary-round play it beat Australia by 10 points and only defeated Serbia and France by three points each. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis all withdrew from consideration, leaving Kevin Durant - who was a month removed from his decision to join the Golden State Warriors - to lead the way. The 2016 team may have been slightly statistically better than the next squad on this list, but the USA's entry in Rio was missing some big names. Rio de Janeiro, 2016 picture alliance / picture alliance / Getty Team USA's shortcomings in 2004 allowed Manu Ginobili and the "Golden Generation" of Argentina basketball to take home gold. More a collection of names than a cohesive unit, its failure brought about big changes for USA Basketball.Īfter Athens, Jerry Colangelo was named managing director of the men's team, Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski was brought in as a full-time head coach, and players were required to commit to a full Olympic/World Cup cycle. On only four occasions in modern Olympic men's basketball history has the United States failed to win gold, and this team was the last to fall short.
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