Brian Windhorst says the Celtics would win the gold medal in the 2024 Olympics: "Considering what they do, I think they'd have a great chance to win it"

After his win in the men's 100-m race at last year's World Championships, U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles infamously questioned why NBA champions are addressed as world champions when they are merely competing against U.S. and Canada teams.

On Sunday night, Lyles won the same race at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. And while he didn't say anything about the NBA champs this time, those who disagreed with him had much to say about Noah's one-year-old statement.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst was one of them. During Monday's episode of ESPN Today, Windy boldly proclaimed that this year's NBA champions have the right to call themselves world champions because if they played in the current Olympic tournament, they would beat all comers and win gold.

"If the Boston Celtics were in this Olympic tournament, I think they'd have a very good chance to win it," Windhorst said. "Obviously, they'd be pulling some players off of Team USA. The Boston Celtics coming together, considering what they do, I think they'd have a great chance to win it. I'm not going to back down from the Celtics calling themselves world champs. I don't think they should either."

The '24 Celtics are also loaded

Windhorst may sound cocky with his declaration, but he may have a valid argument. Although the 2023-24 Celtics aren't loaded as the current Team USA , they are stacked in their unique way.

Boston's most-used starting lineup during the 2023-24 season featured four All-Star players: Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis. The two forwards on that unit, Brown and Tatum, were named to All-NBA teams this past season. Meanwhile, the backcourt duo of Holiday and Derrick White both made the NBA's All-Defensive second team last season.

Not surprisingly, three players from the '24 Celtics title team are on the current U.S. men's basketball team playing at the Olympics: JT, Jrue, and D-White. Tatum and Holiday also played for the 2020 Olympics, while White proved in Paris that his skillset also fits well in FIBA play. Meanwhile, Boston's bench has enough firepower, with Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser as main contributors.

Related: Oscar Schmidt shares how beating Team USA after a miraculous 35-point second-half performance was ‘the best part of his life’

Boston was the best three-point shooting team in the NBA

The Celtics were the best offensive team in the NBA last season, with a league-best rating of 122.2 points per 100 possessions. Boston also ranked second in defensive rating at 110.6 points per 100 possessions allowed, so they are an elite two-way team.

The C's also made an NBA-best 16.5 three-pointers per game at a 38.8% three-point shooting clip during the 2023-24 regular season, so their game should translate well to the international style of play and match up well with their sweet-shooting international rivals.

Undoubtedly, the '24 Celtics team was a powerhouse group. They dominated the NBA regular season with an impressive 64-18 record and dropped only three games in the postseason on their way to winning the 2024 NBA championship. If you put that team in the place of Team USA in the current Olympic tournament, they would likely be as good a bet to win the gold medal.

Related: Steve Kerr on why Devin Booker has started every game for Team USA: "He's probably been the guy who's been most adaptable"