The lads’s Olympic basketball event area is ready, and the motion is getting began this weekend in France. Workforce USA males’s basketball goes for its fifth gold medal in a row, and the People have introduced a star-studded roster to Paris to face some robust competitors. Workforce USA — which went unbeaten in 5 tune-up video games — shall be in Group C, together with Serbia, Puerto Rico and South Sudan. The US — the favourite to win gold once more — routinely certified for the Paris Olympics by ending as one of many high two nations within the Americas zone on the FIBA World Cup final summer season. 

The People beat Canada, Australia, Serbia, South Sudan and Germany of their exhibition schedule, however there have been extra shut calls than anticipated. That features a one-point win on July 20 towards South Sudan, as Workforce USA wanted a game-winning lay-up from LeBron James to keep away from a large upset. James got here to the rescue once more towards Germany two days later in a four-point win.

The lads’s event begins on July 27, with Workforce USA taking the courtroom for the primary time on July 28 towards Serbia.

Workforce USA has its most stacked roster in fairly a while for the 2024 Olympic Video games. However it’s a roster that not options Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers star withdrew from the Olympics on July 10, and in a press release Workforce USA stated it decided with the Clippers that sitting out the Paris Olympics was in Leonard’s “finest curiosity.” Leonard missed the top of the common season and a lot of the playoffs with a proper knee damage. Derrick White was chosen for Leonard’s open roster spot and the champion Celtics now account for 3 of the 12 roster spots on Workforce USA.

Workforce USA shall be led by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, in addition to Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, Clippers coach Ty Lue and Warmth coach Erik Spoelstra as assistants.

Because the Olympics get underway, this is all the knowledge you might want to find out about Workforce USA’s roster, schedule and an outlook for the defending world champions.

Workforce USA males’s basketball roster

Workforce USA 2024 Olympics schedule

Serbia	July 28	11:15 a.m.	Group stage
South Sudan	July 31	3 p.m.	Group stage
Puerto Rico	Aug. 3	11:15 a.m.	Group stage
TBD	Aug. 6	TBD	Quarterfinals
TBD	Aug. 8	TBD	Semifinals
TBD	Aug. 10	TBD	Gold/Bronze Medal video games

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Workforce USA Basketball exhibition outcomes

Workforce USA outlook

The US has received 16 gold medals on the Olympics, and has captured nothing lower than gold since 2004. The People enter each Olympic Video games because the heavy favorites, and for good cause. They area one of the best gamers each 4 years, and regardless of placing collectively a staff on a brief timespan they nonetheless usually handle to bulldoze the competitors each 4 years. However Workforce USA is not infallible. In every of the 2 final FIBA World Cup appearances, the U.S. did not medal, putting fourth final summer season and an much more stunning seventh-place end in 2019. Granted, these groups didn’t boast one of the best expertise the US has to supply, but it surely’s proof you can’t simply throw anybody on the market with hopes of beating the remainder of the world.

However the 2024 Olympic roster is maybe one of the best assortment of expertise the US has fielded for the reason that 2008 Redeem Workforce, which was constructed to avenge a bronze medal end on the 2004 Video games. We’ll get Stephen Curry in his first Olympics ever. Most likely the final Olympic look from LeBron James, the debut of Joel Embiid, who Workforce USA was hotly recruiting to hitch as an alternative of going with France or Cameroon. And peppered in there’s a good mix of older expertise like Kevin Durant, Jrue Vacation and Anthony Davis, blended with the following era of American stars like Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.

Nonetheless, the sector on the 2024 Olympics options a few of the finest worldwide gamers that can all be chomping on the bit to try to knock the People off. Canada has the second-best assortment of NBA expertise behind the US, and will very nicely meet the U.S. within the gold medal match. The identical is true of France, which may have Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert patrolling the frontcourt. Even in Workforce USA’s personal group, the staff should face reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia, which completed second finally summer season’s World Cup. After which there’s Puerto Rico, which earned a berth to the Olympics for the primary time since 2004. The final time Puerto Rico had been there, the nation handed Workforce USA a stunning loss within the group stage, which despatched the People on a spiral that resulted in a bronze medal end.

The People will definitely be favored in each matchup, however they cannot afford to take any opponent flippantly as there’s NBA gamers on practically each roster heading to Paris. The most important weak spot for Workforce USA shall be determining learn how to play collectively on either side of the ground. They’ve coaching camp and 5 tune-up video games to construct chemistry, but it surely’s all the time a bit clunky when you have got 12 guys who should not used to taking part in collectively.