Is the United States men’s basketball team in decline?

27 comments

1. Its a combination of things. The best players do not want to risk injury or additional fatigue, so they don’t play.

   The game has grown on a massive scale globally.

2. Other countries are definitely getting better, the top 3 NBA players (whatever order you want: Embiid, Jokic, ~~Doncic~~Giannis) are not American… but also our best players did not go play in the FIBA World Cup. I think top to bottom we still have the best basketball talent but it’s not enough to just coast to victory in international competitions anymore.

3. The players are getting better, but the best talents don’t want to risk injury, add fatigue, or just do something with little to no upside.

   If you win, we’ll yeah, you were suppose to, if you lose, wtf happened?? There’s just no upside to them.

4. I think Dillion Brooks is going to get an offer from the NBA and be making millions a year. Do i think American basketball is in decline…lol no.

5. No. We didn’t send our best players. Austin Reaves was one of the better players we sent.

6. To give you a hint as to why they didn’t do as well at this world cup—I was not aware that this tournament existed until last week. Not a priority for NBA players. Basketball is also now truly a global sport in a way it hasn’t been in the past, so stiffer competition is only natural.

7. Maybe. But there’s a few factors here:

   1. Americans in general don’t really care about international basketball, even at the Olympics. They care if we lose, but otherwise don’t care that much.
   1. The NBA season is much, much more important than any international competition and the players don’t want to risk the season for the competition. That means that some players won’t play (the team this year lacked any really big names) and the ones that do go, won’t play at 100% to avoid fatigue and injury
   1. FIBA rules are different than NBA rules and our players don’t play with them often enough to not make mistakes because of them.
   1. Going back to #2, the players (especially this year) treat it more as a giant All Star Game than a serious competition. As a result, they really do not play much defense. Even the reigning DPOY failed to play much defense during this competition.

   So really it just boils down to the international competitions just not being as important to Americans.

8. This fiba team was put together by Nike executives who wanted to push Nike brand athletes. It failed. They shouldn’t be allowed to do shit like this

9. I think basketball in other places is becoming more competitive, and Euro style of play is getting popular in the States. That said, I just looked up the US men’s roster and it looks like a bunch of players who come off the bench. Any NBA starting five would smoke FIBA and it wouldn’t even be close. I’d bet money on that.

10. Probably better to say the rest of the world is getting better

11. I’m going to assume no, but then again I have also never heard of the FIBA world cup.

12. No.

13. I didn’t even realize we had a Men’s basketball team on the world event level.

14. yes

15. Yeah because they don’t GAF. It’s been in decline for years…

16. That we lost the game will be the first time most Americans have heard of FIBA.

    We haven’t sent our best players in years.

17. Other countries put more effort into the game I think. If we want to compete in the future, we will need to get a team together and practice more often.

    Or we will just put less emphasis on international basketball all together and come up with a new global sport that other countries aren’t familiar with and dominate them for decades at it. It’s our thing

18. Historically, the FIBA championship only matters to Europeans. American players only care about Olympic gold, which is why the US sends much better players to the Olympics. But even a gold medal doesn’t mean nearly as much to American players as a NBA championship ring, which is why most guys won’t compete in another Olympics after they’ve already won a gold medal. This holds even more true now that so many of the top NBA players are European.

    What’s the point of risking an NBA salary by playing for your national team when all the best players from other countries already play in the NBA?

19. Not really, but we’re not going to be able to continue to dominate by sending our B teams every competition either.

20. who was on the roster?

    NBA season starts soon and that is where the money is as an athlete.

    World Baseball Classic too, we did not send our best to that one.

21. I disagree with most comments this far…I’m physically leaving the championship game right now in Manila, Philippines. And watching it….I just cant believe Team Usa lost to Germany.

    Ignore every comment saying that Team USA is made up of “bench players”…just so false, on every level.

    The roster for Team USA wasn’t the A team but it was still BY FAR the best collection of talent in this tournament. Imo they lost due to a lack of size and lack of continuity as a team…not a lot of minutes together to gel.

    Anyway, yes the rest of the world is catching up in terms of basketball talent. 4/5 best players in the world are non American, but we still are the basketball powerhouse of the world, and it’s not especially close.

    Hoping for better luck in Paris for the Olympics

22. Did you look at the roster? Now compare the FIBA roster to the top 25 American players in the NBA.

    Notice anything missing?

23. It’s both. The US team has “declined” because the top American players don’t play on it. Steph, LeBron, Tatum, Butler, Dame, etc. ain’t on that roster. It’s benchwarmers and G leaguers mostly.

    And the international competition has gotten better. But that’s been happening for a while. In another era, the 2008 redeem team would’ve steamrolled everyone with ease. And while they did win, Spain gave them a tough match in the final. You want proof the international standard has risen…the last five NBA MVPs have all been won by foreign players (Embiid once, Jokic and Giannis twice each). Consider also that besides them, Luka Doncic is also easily a top 5 player right now.

24. I mean there are some pretty clear and important factors that you have to notice.

    1. The rest of the world is simply gaining traction. The US still dominates in terms of talent but the last three MVPs are from other countries. It isn’t 1992 anymore.

    2. US players flat out don’t care as much about the FIBA Cup as they do with the Olympics. The FIBA teams are basically always the B-Team. Like Austin Reaves and Bobby Portis had roster spots.

    3. With all the money that is in basketball, top tier players don’t want to risk injury in games that won’t really make them as much as in the NBA. Lebron sat out the last Olympics and Steph has both never played in the Olympics and hasn’t played on a FIBA team since his first MVP. Other nations play their best players but the US’s best don’t all want to play.

25. A huge issue not mentioned yet that the US has in international play is big men. The international circuit has pumped out the best generational big men centers and the US has not.

    This has been a huge issue in both FIBA and the Olympics where the US just can’t get big men on the court to play. Yes the game has changed, but the US squad cannot rebound a ball.

26. Americans tend to not care, and it honestly better that way. Leaves for a more open competition

27. I don’t think it’s in decline as much as other countries are getting better. I feel like it’s getting to the point where either team can win when playing a single game elimination tournament. I know the US didn’t send their best players, but some other countries also didn’t send their best so I think that even if everyone sent their best players, an upset could happen for a single game elimination.