The next time that USA Basketball takes the court for a game, it’ll be the first of the group stages at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The exhibition slate brought the team greater struggles than they expected, including close wins over South Sudan and Germany. But behind their leader — Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James — they were able to escape without a loss.
James was easily Team USA’s best player during the exhibition round of games. He shot efficiently, led the team in scoring nearly every game and came up huge in clutch moments against both South Sudan and Germany. Despite being 39 and entering his 22nd NBA season, LeBron is showing that he can still be the best player in the world when he chooses.
And following the team’s final exhibition game on Monday against Germany, James chose to address the whole roster to say that they escaped some challenges and will be better for it as games start counting, via USA Basketball:
Battle tested. ⚔️
Inside the 🇺🇸 #USABMNT huddle post-game with LeBron James. pic.twitter.com/hf6FzV3kJX
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 22, 2024
Team USA plays three group stage games, with two of them being against opponents they have already faced. They’ll begin with Serbia on July 28, followed by South Sudan on July 31 and Puerto Rico on Aug. 3. From there, they should be able to secure their place in the knockout stage and contend for a gold medal.
Their performances in exhibitions undoubtedly left something to be desired, especially the one-point victory against South Sudan. However, Team USA has the talent required to be able to flip the switch when the games begin to matter. Anything other than a gold medal would be a massive disappointment given who they have on their roster.
James believes the challenges they faced in the exhibition games have prepared them for what’s ahead.
Anthony Davis jokes about LeBron James’ age
Anthony Davis has been among the team’s best players thus far but has been happy to take a back seat to LeBron James’ greatness while he comes off the bench for Steve Kerr’s team. Davis finished the Germany victory with 10 points, seven rebounds and one block in 14 minutes of action. But his dominance is a little less impressive when you consider that James is the team’s oldest player by several years.
Davis joked about this walking back to the locker room after the win, saying that James continues to impress even in his mid-40s.
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