A Brave New World

Date: August 2, 2021

By: Will Swankie

Will Swankie/WSOU Sports

Last week, I watched NBATV’s The Dream Team for a third time. It’s an Olympic year tradition, and while the present-day Team USA was tipping off at 2 a.m., I was reminiscing about Barcelona in 1992. The personalities, the storylines, and the weight of what the “Dream Team” represented, not just to the United States but around the world, was all squeezed into a fast-paced and jam-packed hour-long documentary bursting with basketball history. It’s a true “docu-classic,” and a perfect archive of one of sports’ most dominant and revered teams. 

The “Dream Team” was sent to the ‘92 Olympics for one reason: to win gold. It wouldn’t be a problem. Their smallest margin of victory was a mere 33 points. Their largest: a colossal 68. But their mystical presence and unmatched celebrity catered to more than just on-court basketball dominance. They created an all-around basketball insurgence. Not just in Europe, but all over the globe. 

IOC

When The Dream Team dropped in 2012, it was a reminder to anyone that may have forgotten (or in my case learning for the first time) that there would never be a team or a run quite like it again. There are glaring reasons why. 11 Hall of Famers, a legendary coach with a personality as big as his players, unrivaled superiority, and willingness to win, the list goes on and on. But there’s another reason. Before the “Dream Team”, international basketball just wasn’t that great. 

Commissioner David Stern was hell-bent on expanding basketball globally. He knew the importance of sending NBA players to the Olympics, and it was going to happen whether people liked it or not. Out of everything Stern gave to the NBA, international growth may be his crowning achievement. And the jumping-off point was 1992. 

Getty Images

After the “Dream Team”, it was probably hard to imagine the U.S. ever relinquishing gold again. The subsequent Olympics following Barcelona maintained the precedent that the Americans would be at the top of international play as long as NBA players were sent to compete. But in 2004, there was a shock to the system. They finished in third and took home bronze medals. It was shameful. It was embarrassing. And it wasn’t supposed to happen. 

Out of 2004’s ashes rose a motivated 2008 team. Led by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade, the U.S. reset the status-quo and placed the Americans back in basketball’s driver's seat. They were playing for more than just gold. They were motivated to show that 2004’s failure was just a one-time fluke. Their motivation was redemption, and they were nicknamed the “Redeem Team.”  

Phil Walter/Getty Images

Americans always seem to perform better when there’s something that needs to be restored. Whether it’s order, democracy, or just straight up the “we’re better at basketball than you” precedent, we always rise to the occasion. One of our favorite things ever is Marvel’s “the Avengers”, and they do their best work after the fact - as Tony Stark pointed out. 

Flash forward to the current Olympics and today’s Team USA has lost three of its six games together. Social media has reacted and overreacted in every way possible. Videos are leaking of Kevin Durant angrily demanding his ball back in practice one day, and then the next disapprovingly looking around as his teammates serenade him with a fake happy birthday. It makes me miss 1992, and I never even lived it. 

.@TeamUSA wished @KDTrey5 a happy birthday before the #OpeningCeremony at the #TokyoOlympics.

Kevin Durant was born on September 29th and his reaction was .

: @JaValeMcGee pic.twitter.com/aIRvx6NlQB

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) July 23, 2021

I could blame the 2021 USA roster for their failures. I should. I do! But it would be irresponsible to overlook just how far the international game has come. Most countries competing in this Olympics have cultivated a plethora of NBA talent. Nations that were an afterthought when it came to basketball: Greece, Slovenia, Serbia, etc., have gifted the NBA with some of the most exciting players it can offer today. 

America has been taking the rest of the world for granted in terms of its basketball skill, and it seems to be finally catching up to them. Worst of all, there is no “Redeem Team” level motivation this time. There is no x-factor pushing this team to win. They look uninspired, and it’s probably because they are. Team USA was expected to push countries around just as they have many times before. Except this time, the rest of the world is pushing back. 

International teams never need an x-factor to drive them to compete. Olympic teams are motivated to represent their country and that motivation shines through on the court and in their play. Foreign players play inspired basketball - diving for loose balls and getting energized in big moments. They don’t get the opportunity to play on the world’s stage very often, and they seem to appreciate the opportunity they’ve earned. 

Part of the Olympic allure is the fact it only comes once every four years. The gap between the Games is the perfect time for international programs to chip away at USA’s stronghold on basketball. Last Olympics, Luka Doncic wasn’t even in the NBA. Now, he’s become an international star and is lighting up Tokyo. 

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Despite the world’s growth, the U.S. should not be renouncing its right as the world’s foremost dominant basketball powerhouse anytime soon. It’s the gold standard and expects to maintain that status this year. But as we’ve learned from past Olympics, and as we’re learning from the 2020 team’s losses in the last month, their success is no longer a foregone conclusion.

Getty Images

The “Dream Team” made this game global. It changed the way the world felt about basketball, and it may forever be the pinnacle for the United States. Because today the world isn’t such a pushover, and there’s no going back.

Will Swankie can be reached at william.swankie@student.shu.edu.

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