Imago
Image Courtesy: IMAGO
Imago
Image Courtesy: IMAGO
When it comes to basketball, the strongest and the most dominating team in the world is the United States. However, for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the US basketball team did not contain all the star power it usually has. Many star players did not participate due to the Zika virus that was going around Brazil at that time. Besides that, there were a lot of security issues in the country that led many of them to step down from the Olympic team.
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Despite this, the selected team had so much depth because of the other talented athletes. They entered the Olympics without most of their star power and still managed to win a gold medal. Reminiscing about the 2016 Gold Medal run, Draymond Green spoke about his experience in his podcast, the ‘Draymond Green Show’. He very frankly said that if the big players hadn’t backed out, he would not have gotten a chance to represent his nation.
However, he further added by saying, “Would I have necessarily gotten an invite if all of those guys would’ve gone? Probably not. But have you ever heard the saying that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure? So, I was afforded the opportunity to go to the 2016 Olympics.”
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Green also pointed out that since he and the Warriors were in their best year, things just lined up for him perfectly. Even though most of the star players opted out of the Rio Olympics, there were still some stars who wanted to represent their nation on a global scale like Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, etc. The 2016 team was not completely deprived of the star power as there were some All-Stars in that squad.
Who was on the roster that won the Gold Medal in Rio?
Even without the star power of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, the skill pool of Team USA was remarkable. The stars who decided to be a part of the 2016 Olympics squad were Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan, Paul George, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, and Kyle Lowry. This formidable squad dominated their opponents in Rio and displayed an impressive combination of scoring, defensive, and all-around abilities.
Read More: “Disappointed” Draymond Green Finally Opens Up About Being Snubbed from the Paris Olympics Team
The Team USA dominated in all the games, maintaining a perfect record. In the Finals, they scored 96 points against Serbia’s 66. The attention is on Team USA again as they prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was announced that they are going all in with all the star power they have got. This year the Gold Medal for the United States looks confirmed even before the matches have begun.
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Ruth John