Team USA is fresh off winning the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, with two members of the Los Angeles Lakers helping the cause. Both LeBron James and Anthony Davis made their presence known during the journey to winning the gold.
James even won the MVP honor of the Games, showing his dominance on the court. The entire Team USA roster was stacked from top to bottom with some of the best talent that the NBA has to offer.
However, even with this amount of talent, the Americans were pushed a little bit. In the semi-finals against Serbia, Team USA had to overcome a 13-point deficit heading into the final quarter.
The Americans pulled off the epic comeback but it had people thinking that the rest of the world had caught up in terms of talent. The international teams all play together consistently while Team USA tends to only band together every four years for the Olympics.
While appearing on the Gilbert Arenas Show, former Lakers guard Nick Young gave some ideas on how to fix the Team USA roster. One idea that he had was to replace a player like Derrick White on the team with someone who could score the basketball a little easier such as Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro.
While Young does have a good point, White was not originally on the roster. He was a replacement when Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was forced out due to injury concerns.
If Leonard had been healthy enough to play, the argument that Young made wouldn’t be relevant. Leonard can score the basketball very efficiently and he would have given the Americans another excess scorer to work with.
White played a solid role for Team USA, being somewhat of a glue guy for the team. His ability to play defensive and hit 3-point shots at a high level helped balance out the roster filled with superstar talent.
Having too many stars can create some drama in terms of playing time across the tournament. But when players like White are on the roster, it does make things a little easier.
Team USA still ended up winning the gold even with the rest of the world now having much more talent. It’s a testament to the growth of basketball worldwide and each time at the Olympics, we can expect the Americans to be pushed even harder.
