‘On paper they’re scary good’: Kevin Love on Team USA Basketball
Kevin Love talks Team USA Basketball ahead of 2024 Paris Olympics.
Sports Seriously
Team USA has become the measuring stick in Olympic basketball ever since joining the field in 1936.
And with that — especially since NBA players were first allowed to play in the Olympics in 1992 — the standard has been to finish first and win gold.
Heading into Saturday’s gold medal game vs. host France — with a roster that includes arguably some of the greatest players ever in LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry — Team USA is looking for its fifth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics, and 17th overall, at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
2024 Paris Olympics: Follow USA TODAY’s full Olympics coverage here
Team USA made easy work out of its Group C opponents, beating Serbia 110-84, South Sudan 103-86 and Puerto Rico 104-83. Steve Kerr’s squad then finished off Brazil 122-87 before finding itself down big at the half vs. Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. The Americans stormed back to win 95-91 and hold down the hopes of yet another gold.
Next up: Host nation France. Though the French didn’t dominate their opponents like the Americans did, they do represent the last team to beat Team USA at the Olympics, upending them in group play in Tokyo. Now they have Victor Wembanyama, arguably the best young player in the world, on their side.
Here’s what you need to know about how USA Basketball has fared in the Olympics:
How many times has USA Basketball won gold at the Olympics?
Heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics, USA Basketball has won an impressive 16 gold medals at the Olympics. The first gold medal for the United States came in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. That started a stretch of seven consecutive Olympic Games where USA Basketball claimed gold in the Olympics. The first non-American team to win the gold was the Soviet Union, which beat the Americans 51-50 in the 1972 Munich Olympics to hand the U.S. their first silver medal.
USA Basketball’s dominance at the Olympics continued throughout the late 1970s to 2000, as it won gold in five of the seven Olympic Games during that stretch. The Americans boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, allowing Yugoslavia to win gold. America also finished with a bronze medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
NBA players first began competing for the team at the 1992 Barcelona Games, giving Team USA three consecutive gold medals from 1992 through 2000. The 2004 Athens Games were viewed as something of a disappointment, as the team finished with a bronze medal, becoming the first team since NBA players could play to win anything other than gold.
Mike Krzyzewski restored USA basketball’s dominance in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics; starting with the “Redeem Team” in Beijing, Coach K led USA Basketball to three consecutive gold medal finishes — the first ever coach in Olympic basketball history to do so — before stepping down after the 2016 Rio Olympics. Gregg Popovich led USA Basketball to its fourth consecutive (16th overall) gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as the U.S. beat France 87-82 in the gold medal game.
REQUIRED READING: 2024 Paris Olympics: Full list of locations, venues, temporary sites for all 32 sports
USA Basketball Olympics historyGold medals won: 16Silver medals won: OneBronze medals won: TwoTotal Olympic medals won: 19
USA Basketball has medaled in 19 of 20 Olympics, including 16 gold medals (accounting for 80% of its medal count). Here’s a breakdown of how USA Basketball has fared at the Olympics throughout the years:
Location of Olympic Games in parentheses
1936 (Berlin): Gold1940: Canceled due to World War II1944: Canceled due to World War II1948 (London): Gold1952 (Helsinki): Gold1956 (Melbourne): Gold1960 (Rome): Gold1964 (Tokyo): Gold1968 (Mexico): Gold1972 (Munich): Silver1976 (Montreal): Gold1980 (Moscow): Boycotted1984 (Los Angeles): Gold1988 (Seoul): Bronze1992 (Barcelona): Gold1996 (Atlanta): Gold2000 (Sydney): Gold2004 (Athens): Bronze2008 (Beijing): Gold2012 (London): Gold2016 (Rio): Gold2020 (Tokyo): Gold2024: TBDWhat country has the most gold medals in basketball at the Olympics?
Heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics, the United State holds the record for most gold medals in basketball at the Summer Olympics, with 16. Only three other teams have ever won the gold medal: the Soviet Union (in 1972 and 1988), Yugoslavia (1980) and Argentina (2004).
Here’s a breakdown of what countries have won gold the most in basketball at the Summer Olympics:
1. United States: 162. Soviet Union: TwoT-3. Yugoslavia: OneT-3. Argentina: One
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Publish date : 2024-08-10 04:58:00
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