Team USA is undoubtedly the most dominant squad in basketball history at the Olympics. They have won the gold medal 16 out of 20 times at the events and will hope to win medal No. 17 at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid is among the 12 players representing Team USA at the Paris Olympics. Apart from Embiid, the roster is full of veteran talents such as LeBron James , Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant.
Despite having a star-studded roster, Embiid doesn’t believe it will be a cakewalk to the gold medal for the Team. In a recent interview with the New York Times , Embiid praised the opponents at the Olympics.
“You look at the talent that the U.S. has, but there’s equal talent on other teams,” Embiid said. “And the talent that’s on the U.S. team, you also got to understand most of those guys are older.”
LeBron is not the same, per Embiid
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is team captain for USAB at the Paris Olympics. Despite being 39 years old, James is doing a commendable job dominating international teams. This was evident from his crunch performances against South Sudan and Germany during the London exhibition games.
As good as James is, Embiid still believes that the King is no longer the player he once was, at least from an athleticism point of view.
“The LeBron now is not the LeBron that was a couple of years ago,” Embiid added. “So it’s a big difference. Everybody would also tell you, and you can see for yourself, the athletic LeBron, dominant that he was a couple of years ago, is not the same that he is now.”
Honestly, James is in the twilight years of his basketball career. He has already played 21 years in the biggest league in the world and has made multiple appearances for Team USA at various competitions.
Despite having so many miles on him, James has yet to show any significant signs of slowing down. But as Embiid mentioned, the four-time NBA MVP has certainly lost a step or two in terms of his nuclear athletic ability and explosiveness, which made him famous when he started his professional career in 2003.
Embiid urges fans not to get ‘fooled’
Embiid concluded his answer by urging fans not to get fooled by big names on paper. After all, those names are no longer what they were in the prime of their respective careers.
“I think people get fooled by the names on paper. But those names have been built throughout their career, and now they’re older. They’re not what they used to be ,” Embiid concluded.
Team USA will begin their 2024 Olympics journey on July 28, 2024, with an anticipated matchup vs. Serbia in Group C.
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