The U.S. men's basketball team to the 2024 Olympics got its first real scare when they were taken to the limit by a young, hungry, determined, and very talented South Sudan team during Saturday's exhibition game at the O2 Arena in London.
After a dominating win over Serbia, Team USA entered the London showcase game as 40-point betting favorites to beat the unheralded South Sudan team. But in an unexpected turn of events, the Americans found themselves down by 16 points at one point, and they needed a big third-quarter run to overtake their opponents. But that wasn't it.
Just as Team USA was trying to put the closing touches on the game, South Sudan gave it one last fight and nearly stole the game in the end game. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James , who hit the game-winning layup, was unfazed after the game.
"To be honest, I like those ones better than the blowouts," said LeBron as he was walking to the tunnel after the game. "At least we get tested. I like being tested, baby."
LeBron played like Captain America
Former Charlotte Hornets player J.T. Thor knocked down a three-pointer over James to give South Sudan an improbable 100-99 with 20 seconds left in the game. In Team USA's final game offensive play, Steve Kerr let LeBron cook one-on-one.
With Antony Davis and Steph Curry playing run action on the opposite slot, Bron shook off his defender, attacked the basket, and scored on a layup to give the Americans back the lead at 101-100. South Sudan still had 8 seconds to steal the game again, but King James already wrote the ending.
"Don't take nothing away from South Sudan," said James who finished with 23 points on 9-13 shooting with six rebounds and six assists. "They played extremely good basketball, and that's why the game won in between the lines and not all on paper."
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Teams no longer fear Team USA
Saturday's close call against South Sudan is yet another reminder to the Americans. While USA Basketball assembled 'the best' possible team to play in the Olympics, Executive Director Grant Hill admitted last year that the world has caught up with the United States. The mystique that the 1992 Dream Team had is no longer there .
"There's no longer the mystique of playing against the NBA players. They were still in awe of playing against Charles Barkley or Karl Malone…. It's interesting how quickly the rest of the world caught up. There was an incredible scare at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. And then in 2002 and 2004, we lost," said Hill.
Critics went at Kerr and his team for nearly losing to South Sudan in an exhibition game. But those who expect Team USA to waltz to the gold medal are obviously daydreaming. In 1992, Jordan played against star-struck opponents who weren't on their talent level. Today, international players are not only big and talented but are no longer afraid of the Americans. So yeah, this was a good test before heading to Paris.
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