Paris 2024: The Best Tournament in Olympic Basketball History
The Paris 2024 Olympics is set to feature one of the strongest and most talented basketball tournaments ever. According to BasketNews, this year’s Olympics will showcase an extraordinary level of NBA talent not seen in 28 years. So, is this the most talent-rich tournament in the history of Olympic Basketball?
Team USA will feature 12 NBA players from the first, second, and third teams. The tournament will be stacked with talent to include…
- 4 First-Team Performers: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Nikola Jokic & Jayson Tatum
- 4 Second-Team Ballers: Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards & Kawhi Leonard
- 4 Third-Team Hoopers: Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Tyrese Haliburton & LeBron James
All-NBA players will represent four national teams (Greece, Canada, Serbia, USA). Basketball has truly become an international game as foreign players have become household names as well as known superstars on the court.
Let’s look at some of the teams:
Germany
Germany won the FIBA 2023 World Tournament. The team is flooded with NBA talent: Dennis Schroder, Mo Wagner, Franz Wagner and Daniel Theis. The Germans are tough on the boards and run an old school motion offense. But will that be enough to compete on this stage?
Serbia
The reigning NBA MVP, Nikola Jokić, will look to keep Serbia’s momentum rolling into pool play. He is well rested, after an early exit from the NBA playoffs. Also Bogdan Bogdanović should provide be an outside scoring threat. The Serbians are always mentally tough and play hard-nose defense.
Australia
Australia is another team that is tough competition in any world tournament. They have learned to mix in their young guys with established vets. Patty Mills will look to lead Josh Giddey, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, and recent lottery pick, Dyson Daniels, to the podium.
France
The host team will be led by seven-footers, Victor Wembanyama (NBA Rookie of the Year) and Rudy Gobert (4x NBA Defensive Player of the Year). Also lacing their shoes for France, will be NBA vets: Nicolas Batum, Frank Ntilikina, Evan Fournier, and Bilal Coulibaly. The 2020 silver medalists will look to keep the French squad solidly entrenched on the medal stand.
Canada
Lastly, we have Team Canada. The Canadians are back at the Olympics for the first time in 24 years and will send out its most talented roster ever. Gilgeous-Alexander will be joined by NBA champions Jamal Murray and Andrew Wiggins. They will have strong-minded defensive stalwarts in Lu Dort, Dillon Brooks and NBA rookie, Zach Edey. But, can Canada survive the ‘Group of Death,’ which includes Greece with Antetokounmpo, Australia, and the #2 ranked, Spain?
The games will competitive which should lead to an intriguing competition for Gold. This tournament will be the best assembly of talent in the history of Olympic Basketball.
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