Team USA’s men’s basketball team has been constructed with the goal of bringing together the best American players in the NBA. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and other superstars were recruited with the goal of gold at the Paris Olympics 2024. Naturally, this meant that comparisons to the 1992 Dream Team were bound to happen.
NBA Champion Paul Pierce had an interesting take on it. The former All-Star was on Undisputed on FS1 when host Skip Bayless asked who would win in a matchup between the two teams. To this, Pierce said the current lineup dominates the team from 1992.
Who’s gonna guard LeBron? First of all, style of play would’ve been too much for the Dream Team. They couldn’t shoot the three. Who did they have down low? They had David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Charles Barkley. We can counter that with Embiid, AD, and Bam. Who’s gonna guard Kevin Durant? Who’s gonna guard Steph Curry?
Paul Pierce via Undisputed
His points were primarily based on the understanding that style of play will inevitably make it difficult for the Dream Team. Add to that, he feels the wide array of superstars on this USA team will be too much.
Part of his logic is based on the fact that player for player, the Dream Team does not have players to guard what USA 2024 has. The primary problem is who from the Dream Team will take up guarding the Big 3. Even if they have players to guard James, Curry, and Durant, they will still have to deal with the bench.
Therefore, overall, defensively, they would struggle. More importantly, who among the bench players can take on when USA 2024’s second unit comes on? That is considering the likes of Stephen Curry, who hasn’t yet started playing to his best.
Stephen Curry is X-Factor for Team USA
So far, in the Paris Olympics 2024, LeBron James and Kevin Durant have showed out with 20+ points each against Serbia. However, Stephen Curry has yet to bring out his best. He scored most of his points in the fourth quarter when the Serbians had almost given up. He is the lone wolf still remaining to have a considerable impact.
That impact will be necessary when Team USA goes up against their opponents in the knockout rounds. Knockouts bring out the best in international competition. With the plethora of both current and former NBA talent at the Olympics, Team USA stars have to be at their dominant best. Otherwise, they might have a scare or two that could derail their goal. This is why the Golden State Warriors superstar has to find his rhythm soon.
His clutch, streaky shooting is the X-Factor for them to secure gold. The best of the best NBA defenders have had no luck against it so far. LeBron James and Kevin Durant might take on the bulk of the offensive load. Nevertheless, they need Stephen Curry‘s confidence in deflating bombs to succeed in this Olympics.
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