USA Men's Basketball Team Is An Embarrassment

Every decade or so, an asinine and completely absurd question gets asked and debated. Could the best team in the NCAA (football or basketball) beat the worst team in the pros? The answer has always been unequivocally "No!"

No matter how good a college team is, it could never be better than a professional team. In 2008, this question was asked about the Detroit Lions (0-16) and the Florida Gators (12-1, National Champions). Florida featured 33 players who would spend time on an NFL Roster. As talented as that squad was, the Lions featured 53 players (not counting the practice team) who made an NFL roster.

There is no way a team with an entire roster of pros could lose to a team comprised of pros and amateurs. Even the best college basketball teams might have 4-6 pros on their roster at one time. They would not fare well against a horrible NBA team that has 15 pro players on their roster.

Until this summer, there has been no counterargument to that logic. No counterargument that is, until the 2024 USA Men's Basketball squad took to the court. A shadow of doubt has been cast over the entire debate, but more embarrassingly, over the basketball as a whole in this country.

2024 USA Men's Basketball By The Numbers

Statistically speaking, no team in the world should be within two dozen points of this years men's squad. They feature 12 NBA players, 11 of them All-Stars, and three players who would make the Hall of Fame if they retired today.

The 12 players on the roster averaged 285.6 points per game last season combined (an average of 23.8 ppg per player). They also averaged 83.9 rebounds (7 per player) and 69.2 assists (5.9 per player). The average PER (player efficiency rating) per player was 21.98. This team is a juggernaut and should steamroll anyone in their way.

USA 86 Canada 72

Team Canada boasts 12 players with NBA experience. Some would argue that their roster makes them a formidable foe, and a close game with Team USA should be expected. A deeper dive into Canada's roster would reveal that it's not that great.

Canada features two players who have made an NBA All-Star Game (Jamal Murray and Shai GiGilgeous-Alexander). The average player on their team, in the NBA last season, put up 11.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. This is a far cry from USA's averages.

USA 98 Australia 92

It would only be natural to assume that if Australia played the Americans tougher than Canada, it's because they have a better team. In reality, they only feature eight players who are currently on NBA rosters and one former NBA player (Matthew Dellavadova).

The Aussie's pro players averaged just 5.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game, per player last year in the NBA. The only player on their roster who averaged double-digit points was Chicago Bull Josh Giddey (12.3). Despite the inferior roster, they still took the United States all the way down to the wire.

USA 101 South Sudan 100

The most perplexing game of the exhibitions so far was South Sudan coming within a layup of beating the United States. It took a 16-0 run to end the third quarter for the Americans to take the lead. The reason for the barn burner was not an elite roster of NBA players representing South Sudan.

Only two active NBA players are on South Sudan's roster, along with two former players, and one rookie. No one on the team averaged more than 3.4 points per game in the NBA. The games keep getting tougher for the United States, even as their opponents keep getting weaker.

The Excuses

Nobody is expecting this team to be comparable to the 1992 team that won every game by 40. The world has significantly improved since then, and many international teams pose a serious threat. The United States hasn't played any of them yet, and because of the way they are trending, it's possible they won't come home with a medal.

The USA isn't playing poorly because they haven't had a chance to practice together. None of the international teams have had a chance either. The teams with NBA players are in the same boat as America, yet they seem to be playing better. The United States should be ashamed and embarrassed to represent their country, and should probably be sent home before they really make their country look bad.