LeBron James' Blunt Message For Team USA After Disappointing Win Vs. South Sudan

After seemingly building up their chemistry and finding their footing against Nikola Jokic and Serbia, Team USA was expected to throttle South Sudan in their fourth exhibition meeting.

Led by LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Anthony Edwards, Team USA was able to beat Serbia by nearly 30 points, so when they took on a South Sudan team with just one active NBA player it was expected to get ugly, and quick. The Stars and Stripes got off to a 12-2 start to open the game, but ended up going into halftime trailing by 14 points and turning the ball over more than they dished out assists in the second quarter.

Thanks to a major second-half showing by James who finished with 23 points, Team USA was able to storm back into the game in the third quarter. They even took the lead thanks to an extremely deep three from Curry, which intially appeared to take the wind out of South Sudan's sails.

While fans and even the broadcast assumed that Team USA would pull away in the fourth quarter, the South Sudanese squad matched them blow for blow. They came within a couple of points of pulling off the upset, as former Auburn star and current Charlotte Hornets role player JT Thor drilled a clutch step-back three with 20 seconds remaining in the game to take a one-point lead.

With the game on the line and some of the best players in the history of the NBA on the roster, Steve Kerr turned to James for the final possession. He powered past Thor and was able to get the layup to fall, securing the 101-100 victory.

A win is a win as they say, but social media is certainly letting the team full of future hall of famers hear it after nearly losing to a team that they likely should have beat by 30. After the game, it was James who appeared to be the de facto leader of the team talking to the rest of the Team USA squad, praising them for their resilience.

"We'll get better. "We'll get better and better but we less than two weeks still together alright..."So good job, way to be resilient," James said to the team before they chanted "Gold."

James and Team USA will return to action for one final exhibition game against Germany on Monday at 3 p.m. ET.

This also won't be the last time they play South Sudan, as they are set to play in the group stage against one another on July 31.

Related: Social Media Roasting Team USA For Getting Blown Out By South Sudan