Why Serbia win was so important for future of USA Basketball

As the saying goes: "age is just a number." And that's never been more true than in Team USA men's basketball's win over Serbia on Thursday in the Olympic semifinals. LeBron James (39 years old), Steph Curry (36) and Kevin Durant (35) rallied the Americans to a 95-91 win, advancing the team to the gold-medal game against France.

While the trio of superstars will go down in history for their "we-won't-let-us-lose" performance down the stretch, those who didn't play a minute are generating just as much discussion following the win. Boston Celtics' star Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers' star Tyrese Haliburton never saw the floor. Despite not playing an active role in the game, there are still positives that can be gleaned for those two and Anthony Edwards, who played 13 minutes.

With James, Curry and Durant entering the final stages of their careers, Team USA will look drastically different in 2028 . It will be a very interesting Olympics as the rest of the world continues to catch up to the United States, and the older USA superstars move on. Tatum, Haliburton and Edwards are in line to be the next faces of the team and they received a first-class education from the game's best in Thursday's win.

Tatum, Haliburton and Edwards are so good and so young that it's easy to forget that on a team full of alpha dogs, they are down a tier or two from other veterans on the roster. Tatum, drafted by Boston in 2017, finally reached the NBA mountaintop last season, winning his first title with the Celtics. Haliburton, drafted by Sacramento in 2020, was traded to Indiana in 2021-22 and has blossomed into an All-Star. Edwards, the No. 1 pick to Minnesota in 2020, enjoyed his coming out party in last year's playoffs, taking the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals.

On nearly any other team assembled, those three would be the top options, but on the United States, they are teammates with players better than them. It won't be that way for long and that's why Thursday was so important. All three players were drafted and almost immediately asked to be the go-to option. They've all done well in that role, but besides Tatum with Kyrie Irving, they've never been on the same team as a bona fide superstar like the ones they're teammates with now.

Experience matters when going head-to-head with the best players in the world on the biggest stage. Yes, Tatum and Haliburton didn't play, but that doesn't mean there weren't lessons to learn. Both could watch Curry and James in the huddles. How did they respond to adversity? How did they galvanize the rest of their team? Who spoke up in the locker room at halftime? They've rarely, if ever, had the opportunity to learn like that from veterans who are on their level of greatness. In 2028, Tatum, Haliburton and Edwards will be counted on to be leaders and Thursday night may be the experience that vaults them into those future roles.

The win over Serbia served USA Basketball well in the short term — a gold medal is now one win away. But for the future, it will continue to pay dividends if the youngsters are watching and learning. If they are, it very well may lead to another gold-medal opportunity in four years.