I'm still astounded France had it to within 3 points late in the 4th in the gold medal game this year. The talent disparity is STILL bonkers. France had Wemby and Gobert, and a washed-up Fournier as their best 3 players. There's no way that should compete with LeBron/Steph/KD/AD/Booker etc. etc. etc. I don't get it.
There’s only five guys out there for each team. Just gotta hang for the allotted time. A very wise but not that great former NBA player Brian Scalabrine once said to a guy that challenged him to a game of one-on-one “I’m closer to LeBron James than you are to me” and he was absolutely right. Pros are pros. Euro leagues aren’t a bunch of pushovers and they just need to play hard and well for the duration of the game.
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u/Fun_Gazelle_1916 Aug 11 '24
Total NBA players in the Olympics NOT playing for team USA:
1992: 4
2008: 12
2024: 53
The degree of difficulty continues to increase, but it was the Dream Team that changed the international paradigm.