Over the years, Team USA has dominated the Olympics with its top-tier talent. This year, they assembled one of the most stacked rosters ever, blending NBA veterans and rising stars. However, despite the talent, Team USA faced several challenges on their path to the gold medal.
Recently, NBA legend Kevin Garnett on his podcast showed concerns about Team USA. With the new wave of talent emerging in international countries, Garnett felt that France has got the chance of defeating the USA in the coming 2028 Olympics. Kevin Garnett even gave a shoutout to French guard Evan Fournier and stated that the Frenchmen has cracked the code to defeat USA.
Evan Fournier, he got the formula. He just ran out of time, bro. He actually thought man we could beat the Americans. I got young Wemby.
Kevin Garnett said via KG Certified
Fournier was the third-leading scorer for the French team and played a great role throughout the tournament. With Victor Wembanyama in the France lineup, the French team are gonna be a heavy contender in the coming Summer Games. This year fans saw the potential of the French team as they went neck to neck with the USA in the finals for the gold medal.
The Big 3 of the modern NBA, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, carried Team USA this year. However, in the next edition of the Olympics, Team USA will have a whole different squad with newer and younger talent taking the lead. With international talent becoming stronger and stronger, the USA will be facing challenges in the upcoming tournaments of international basketball.
The rise of international talent in the NBA
In the last few years, fans have witnessed the rise of international players in the NBA. In the past, the NBA was dominated by Americans, with only a handful of foreign talents such as Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Pau Gasol making significant impacts. The widespread influence of the NBA across the United States has led to a major surge of talent in the league today.
In the NBA of today, it appears foreign talent has taken over, highlighted by the fact that the top three stars in the MVP race for the last season were foreign talent. Stars like Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid are the frontrunners of this rise of foreign talent. These ‘alien’ stars have brought something different to the table with their polished skills.
The last two NBA first-overall picks, Zaccharie Risacher and Victor Wembanyama, both hail from France. Analysts believe European talent will have a significant impact on the NBA’s future, a trend that seems to be unfolding now.
