Draymond Green believes Team USA is increasing the gap against other countries in basketball.
Despite recent losses in major tournaments, Green dismisses the idea that other nations are catching up to the United States.
Team USA, without their top stars, finished fourth in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, losing to Lithuania, Germany, and Canada. They also lost to France in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics group phase but ultimately won gold. In the 2019 World Cup, the Americans placed seventh after defeats by France and Serbia.
Green, a four-time NBA champion, compared Team USA’s dominance to that of Usain Bolt’s in sprinting.
“When Usain Bolt was running, everybody else was fighting for a silver and bronze medal,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show.
He added that despite talks of international players catching up, the gap seems to be growing wider.
“There’s all this talk of other countries catching up to the USA in basketball, and it just does not quite seem that way. It actually seems the total opposite. It actually seems like it’s growing even further apart. Team USA is even better, and so that’s kind of where we are,” Green said.
Team USA fielded a star-studded roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, featuring LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, and other NBA superstars.
The Americans advanced to the semifinals after a dominant group phase and a decisive quarterfinal victory over Brazil.
Green predicts Team USA defeating Serbia by 22 points and Germany winning over France by 6-7 points in semifinals. He sees the U.S. winning gold eventually.
