International basketball has come a long way since the Dream Team dominated the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Whereas teams before considered it an immense honor to share the floor with legendary American basketball players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, now it's a chance for teams to prove themselves against the best in the world. And even though Team USA has still been dominant in the last four Olympic basketball tournaments, the competition's knockout format opens the possibility of an upset.
Charles Barkley , a Hall of Famer and current basketball analyst, recently joked about the consequences for Team USA if they lost in the Paris Olympics. During an interview with Paul George, Chuck quipped that losing in the Olympics would mean not being able to come back to the country.
International teams have gotten better
"Sir Charles," a two-time Olympic gold medal winner, is certain that foreign teams and their players have improved by leaps and bounds. You don't even have to look too far for proof of this, as some of the top NBA players are now from different countries. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic are all examples of international players who have risen to become superstars in the league.
At the same time, Chuck emphasized that despite this development, international squads still aren't better than Team USA.
"You take away Joker, Giannis, and Luka, all three of whom are great players. If I'm missing someone, let's not forget Shai—Shai is great also. But we still have the next ten best players in every game, probably even 12," Barkley said on "Podcast P."
Team USA's biggest strength in any international competition, especially the Olympics, is its depth. While the team starts superstars like LeBron, Steph Curry, and Devin Booker, the drop-off in talent—if any—is barely noticeable when the Americans go to their second unit, with All-Stars like Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo, and Anthony Davis coming off the bench.
"When we go to our bench, there's nobody bringing a Jason Tatum or a Jrue Holiday or a Haliburton or a Derrick White. Those foreign teams aren't bringing dudes off the bench that are that good. I guarantee you that," Charles added. "I don't know about every country, but ain't nobody bringing anybody off the bench better than Jason Tatum. Ain't nobody bringing anybody off the bench better than Kevin Durant."
Related: Oscar Schmidt shares how beating Team USA after a miraculous 35-point second-half performance was ‘the best part of his life’
No excuse not to win the gold medal
George, a gold medal winner in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, chimed in on the discussion, saying that while international teams have several fantastic players, the U.S. is the only team that has the complete package.
"When you look at it, Canada, in particular, has amazing guard play, and I think Canada is probably one of the better teams that could give USA a real shot if they can put it together. But top to bottom, their guard play is great, but they just aren't big enough," PG explained. "You look at France; they've got the size, but they don't have the guard play. You can't find international teams that can put it all together the way the USA team can."
Chuck stopped short of guaranteeing gold for the United States and joked that Team USA must win the entire thing or risk not being welcomed back home.
"I just don't see how, if we're locked in, there's any shot at USA losing. If they lose, we can't let them back in the country. They can't come back because, with the team we've got, there's no excuse to lose the gold medal," Barkley said.
With a quarterfinal game against Brazil looming, the Americans must stay focused on the ultimate prize. If not, they better believe Charles would be at the airport, trying to ensure they don't get past immigration.
Related: Charles Barkley sends a warning to Joel Embiid amid disappointing Olympic run: "He needs to get in shape"
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