After the struggles of the 2020-2021 team in Tokyo, and the Olympics being in France, it looked like Team USA was finally not going to win the gold. The French had new NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama, NBA defensive player of the team Rudy Gobert, and a host of former NBA players. The US is coming off its worst gold medal performance in history.

One positive thing for the US was in late 2022 Stephen Curry, who had played for Team USA in the World Championships but never the Olympics, made a statement that he would like to win a gold medal and would like to play with Lebron James. James followed up the comment saying it would be fun. Soon other elite level NBA players stated their desire to play for the team

The US got more good news when Joel Embiid announced he would play for the US and not France. Embiid born in Cameroon, has both American and French citizenship. Having the 2023 MVP joining two former MVPs would make the US very tough. The US would add a fourth MVP when Kevin Durant announced he would also play.

Soon a lot of American players were committed to playing and newly christened head coach Steve Kerr had a lot of tough decisions to make. In addition to the four former MVP's, Kerr added Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker. The roster controversially left off Finals MVP Jaylen Brown.

No team in American basketball Olympic history is as polarizing as the 2020, or should I say 2021 team. The team struggled and faced adversity like none other, and had the worst start of any team in American history yet found itself late for Olympic glory.

Some of Team USA's struggles come from the fact that the entire world was struggling. In February 2020 the Coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic began and pretty much shut the world down. The NBA stopped play on March 11th and did not resume until July 31st. On March 30th, the IOC announced that the Tokyo Games would be postponed until 2021.

Politics had once again interjected themselves into basketball. After the unlawful killing of George Floydd in May 2020 many players protested in the streets as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign. This brought the ire of right-wing pundits and politicians who lambasted the NBA. Then during the bubble, teams wore slogans on their jerseys and after the killing of another black-man the players threatened to sit out the remainder of the playoffs in the bubble.

By the time the 2021 Olympics came about, US basketball players were probably hated second only to US women soccer players. For example, Foxnews refused to even mention the Team USA.

Going into the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, things were looking good the the US. The stability brought by the changes to Team USA after the 2004 debacle resulted in two World Championships and two Olympic gold medals.

However, there were some areas of concern for Team USA. Complacency once again set in and players were once again not interested in giving up their summers for Team USA.

Two players from the 2012 London team did join the 2016 team, and they were two of the better players for Team USA in Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony. Dwight Howard, Kevin Love, and Andre Iguodala had also shown interest but were ultimately not included on the team.

While top stars like Lebron James declined to play, the roster was loaded with top-tier talent. Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Harrison Barnes, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Paul George joined Durant and Melo on at the wing positions, and big-men DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus Cousins, and Draymond Green were the bigs. Once again Mike Krzyzewski was the head coach with Jim Boeheim his lead assistant. Knicks coaches Tom Thibodeau and Monty Williams were also on the squad.

After the success of the Redeem Team, USA basketball was on a high note once again, and once again it was able to convince the best players in the United States to play in the 2012 London Olympic games.

Five players players returned from the 2008 Redeem Team, they were Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Kobe Bryant. The roster also included Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler, and Russell Westbrook who had played on the 2010 World Championship team. The final two roster spots went to Blake Griffin and James Harden. Griffin would be injured in training camp and would be replaced by Anthony Davis. Davis was the first player on a US team who had not previously played in the NBA since Christian Laettner on the original Dream Team in 1992.

The team was once again coached by Mike Kryzewski. Jim Boeheim, Mike D'Antonio, and Nate McMillian filled out his bench.

The team played its first exhabition game vs the Dominican Republica on July 12, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The NBA tied Team USA into the NBA Summer League and was able to get fans excited about both. The Americans had no trouble against the Dominicans and cruised to a 113-59 victory.

Going into the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, things have probably never been bleaker for USA basketball. The US was embarassed on their home soil in the 2002 World Championships, lost 3 times in the 2004 Olympics, and than suffered another humiliating defeat at the hands of Greece in the 2006 World Championships.

Because of the failures, USA decided to overhaul the entire program. Duke coach Mike Kzyzewski was named head coach for the team, and unlike in the past he would stay the head coach to bring some consistency to the program. USA basketball also announced that they would build a team using the team concept instead of the 12 best players. Players were also asked to sign on to USA basketball for multiple seasons.

In previous seasons the best players in the NBA declined an invite, but the pressure was on and a lot of the games biggest stars stepped forward to wear the Red White and Blue. Kobe Bryant was one of the first to say he was playing, he was followed by Jason Kidd, and Lebron James. In quick succession the roster was full of all-stars like Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Michael Redd, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Tayshaun Prince and Carmelo Anthony.

It was clear that this was the best roster the USA had assembled since the 1992 Dream Team. The team took on the moniker "The Redeem Team" as their goal was to redeem the United States for a series of embarassing losses.

Going into the 2004 Athens games the US was once again favored to win the gold, even after much of the world had caught up to the US in basketball, and after many US players declined an invite to join team USA.

In the 2002 Worlds the US was embassed. The World Championships were held in Indianapolis and the US finished sixth, and the team probably should have fininished lower than that. But the had revamped its roster going into the Olympics, and the US did have a history of not caring about the World Championships.

The US had a young roster with the elder statesmen of the team being 29 year old Allen Iverson and 28 year old Tim Duncan. None of the US team had any international experience and this was going to cause problem. The roster also had a lot of promising youth and players who would become fixtures for Team USA basketball for decades to come in the form of Dwyane Wade, Carlos Boozer, Carmelo Anthony, and Lebron James.

One thing this US team lacked was outside shooting. The best shooter going into the tournament was probably Richard Jefferson. The other thing that would plague Team USA was attitude. The American team was full of players who were seen as selfish and self-centered and only cared about getting their stats and not the team overall.

As the millennium switched over into the 21st century, a lot of nations were getting better at basketball. In just a few short years the NBA had gone from a league that was easily 90% US born players, to one that at least 20% of the players were foreign born. A lot of people were talking that maybe the US would not win the gold as easily as it had in the past.

Even with the talk, the US was still the favorite to win the gold medal, as the toop players in the league were all US born.

In late 1999 USA basketball realeased a list of about 40 players who were to be considered for the team. A lot of familar faces were on the list including Dream Team I and III members Karl Malone, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen and David Robinson. Dream Team III members Gary Payton, Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller and Grant Hill where alson on the squad. A lot of younger players such as Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Tim Duncan and Paul Pierce were also on the roster.

Despite the invite, all the original members of the Dream Team dropped out, and every member of Dream Team III, except for Gary Payton, also dropped out. Almost every player on the 2000 All-NBA team dropped out as well. The disinterest and dropping out of the games biggest stars hurt the perception of the team and the US overall as it looked like American's were just not that interested.

Following the Dream Team was going to be a hard thing to do, but that is exactly what Team USA and the 1996 Atlanta team was trying to do. The team dubbed the Dream Team III was composed up of a lot of players from the original Dream Team and the Dream Team II that played in the World Basketball Championship.

The 1994 team that played in Toronto at the WBC was made up of a lot of players who were younger, a theme the US continues to do. The US sends the top teir stars to the Olympics and the younger up and coming stars go to the World Basketball Championships or as its called now - the World Cup of basketball. Dream Team II won gold fairly easily and was the first USA team to actually go undefeated at the Worlds since 1954 and the third to ever win gold.

The Atlanta team had a lot of hype because for the third time in their history and second time in 12 years the Olympics were going to be played in the United States.

Five players from the original Dream Team played for Dream Team III, they were Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, and David Robinson. Michael Jordan was offered a spot but passed so that others could get a gold medal. Shaquille O'Neal and Reggie Miller were added to the squad from Dream Team II. The roster was filled out with Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Gary Payton would replace the injured Glenn Robinson on the team.

There are very few teams in sports who can lay claim to the greatest team ever, but the 1992 Barcelona team can claim without any hyperbole that they are the greatest basketball team ever - and they'd be right. Teams don't just get called the Dream Team.

The 1992 Barcelona games saw, for the first time, NBA players and other professional basketball players from around the world. After their disappoint loss to the Soviet Union in 1988 the Americans were going to build a team to rival none.

There was some pushback from the organization that would become USA basketball about using professional players. But after the 1990 world cup where the US did not use professional players and the rest of the world did, and the US finished third, the US was for the first time in very real danger of not even making the Olympics.

Fans were abuzz about what 12 players would be selected to represent the Americans. Some wanted the 12 best players, some wanted the NBA champion, some wanted a mix of college and Professional players, and others advocated for using players from the CBA. Ultimately, it was decided that the NBA would pick the roster.

On September 21, 1991, the NBA announced the first 10 players on the roster. The World Champion Chicago Bulls got their two star players selected in Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. The Utah Jazz also had a pair of stars selected in Karl Malone and John Stockton. New Yorks Patrick Ewing, and San Antonio's David Robinson were added as the teams centers. Golden States' Chris Mullin, and Philadelphia's Charles Barkley were also added. The NBA also selected two elder statesment in Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

The 1988 Olypic games in Seoul brought new hope for the international community. For the first time in decades there were no serious boycotts of the games, and cold war tensions were beigning to simmer down. The US had recaputred the gold medal four years prior and looked poised for a repeat.

The US had one of its better rosters as all the eligible college players decided to try out, including the #1 pick in the previous NBA draft David Robinson from Navy. Robinson was able to get a deferal from the Navy in order to join. The #1 pick from the 1988 draft, Danny Manning, also joined the team. John Thompson was named head coach of the squad.

For the first time the US played exhibition games which they recorded. The US played the US Goodwill ambassadors and the US Virgin Islands. The Olympians won both games easily. They also played a game against high level NBA talent that was not counted and were beaten.

Like previous years the host nation got a bid, the defending Olympic champion United States got a bid, and each continent was guaranteed at least team. Oceania and Asia were the only continental winners with one bid. The Americas and Erupe got 3 teams each and Africa in a rarity placed two teams.

The 12 teams were placed into two groups and the US got the easier of the two groups facing Spain, Brazil, Canada, China and Egypt.

After the disappointment of not participating in the 1980 Moscow games, basketball fans were excited to see the 1984 team compete - and this time they were going to be competing on home soil. The United States had last held the Summer Olympics in 1932 - in Los Angeles - but basketball was not an Olympic sport at the time.

Going into the 1984 games, no host nation had won a gold medal on their home soil and the US meant to change that. But once again politics were going to be a factor in the game.

The Soviet Union and 13 Eastern Bloc nations boycotted the 1984 games in Los Angeles in retaliation to the United States boycotte in 1980. However, there was not unity in all the communist world as Yugoslavia, Cuba, China and other countries defined the Soviets boycott and participated in the Olympics.

The 1984 class was one of the deepest team USA has ever had. Trials for the team were held in April 1984 at the University of Indiana. Indiana coach Bob Knight was selected as the teams head coach.

The 1980 Moscow team is the greatest "what if" team in American basketball history. The roster was going to be stacked with talent, but nobody ever got to see how they stacked up against the best in the world.

In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, setting off a world wide protest. In response to the invasion the United States and 66 other nations boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics Moscow.

Still, the United States had a national team assembled. The team was lead by Isiah Thomas, Mark Aguirre, Sam Bowie and Rolando Blackman and was coached by David Gavit.

Several players, colleges and NBA officials along with politicians tried to persuade president Jimmy Carter to allow the US athletes to participate in the games, but to no avail. Carter had backing of both Republicans and Democrats in the boycott - though future president Ronald Reagan did criticize Carter for the move. v

The US team played a series of games around the US called the Gold Medal Series, which was against NBA veterns and all-stars.

fter the controversial loss to the Soviets in 1972, the US looked to get back to their winning ways in the 1976 games in Montreal. After being the USA's coach for 3 consecutive Olympics, Hank Iba stepped down and Dean Smith took over coaching the US.

The Montreal games had a lot less controvery than the Munich games and very little drama outside sports drama ensured.

Once again the US picked the only college players, while the Eastern Bloc countries were allowed to have professional players. This time however, the US did not even challenge the ruling - likely tired of dealing with the pro-communist factions inside of FIBA. Once again the Soviets guaranteed victory, and even mocked the Americans with hints that they had the best professional players while the US had school children.

The 1976 Olympic games also marked the first time that there was a women's tournament.

The tournament was set up similar to the past years, but with fewer teams - 12 compared to 16. The USSR, USA, Cuba all got bids and Canada got a bid as the host as well. Oceania, Asia and Africa each got a team, the Americas got 2 teams and Europe got 3. China dropped out of the tournament and was replaced by Japan. Egypt and several other African countries boycotted the games. Egypt was not replaced in the tournament.

The 1972 Munich games can be summed up with two words: Controversy and Tregedy. Team USA would be part of the controversy of the games like no time in their history. The games were the first to be held in Germany since World War II and a lot of nations still felt it was inappropriate to hold the games at the site of Nazi power - even if it has been 27 years since their fall. However, when Israel announced they would send athletes - a lot of the protests subsided. The other controversy was that the Soviet Union announced it was sending professional players - something the USA was not allowed to do.

The 1972 Munich games are more widely known for the Munich massacre during the second week of the games, when Palestinian members of the Black September group murdered 11 Israeli athletes and coaches and one West German police officer inside the Olympic village.

For the first time the AAU was not part of USA basketball. The NCAA had finally wrestled away control from the AAU and evry member of team USA was a collegiate athlete. The US tried sending NBA players, even retired players such as Bill Russell, but were told in very strict terms by the IOC that if they did the USA would be barred from not just the 1972 games, but the World Basketball Champions and the 1976 games. The USA filed a protest which was promptly ignored.

Going into the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City it looked as if the US was finally going to lose, and for the first time the US was actually not favored to win the gold medal. The civil unrest of the civil rights movement had spilled over into basketball and this was preventing some of the biggest names in the game from playing for Team USA.

Arguably the greatest college player in the history of the game, Lew Alcindor, refused to play for the United States, citing "Trying to point out to the world the futility of winning the gold medal for this country and then coming back to live under oppression." The UCLA product was not the only notable player sitting out the Mexico City games, as Elvin hayes, Wes Unseld, Bob Lanier and Calvin Murphy also declined to participate.

Other politics also got involved in the selection process, where one of the largest snubs in basketball history happened because Team USA coach Hank Iba had a feud with Press Maravich, which lead to Iba not inviting the NCAA all-time leading scorer Pete Maravich to try outs.

Still, the American team was loaded with talent. But in terms of overall talent the 1968 team may be one of the least talented teams the Americans have ever assembled. The US did have Spencer Haywood, who at just 19 years of age was the youngest player in Team USA history.

After two dominating performances in 1956 and 1960, the 1964 team seems a little lackluster. But once again the American squad was full of talent. The team was coached by Hank Iba, who would start his stint as head coach of 3 consecutive American National team squads.

The roster was once again constructed mostly of college players and a few AAU players, though by 1964 most of the good AAU squads had disbanded as the best basketball players went to college than to the NBA. But the Goodyear Wingfoots, who at one time were part of the NBA predecessor NBL, sent three players to the team. The Chicago Jamaco Saints sent another, and as usual the Philips 66ers sent a player. Jerry Shipp from the 66ers would be the last player from the team to represent the US ending a long historic line of players from the AAU powerhouse.

Most of the college players were made up of players from the west coast, as 3 of the 7 NCAA players represented schools who would eventually represent the PAC10.

The qualification process for 1964 was a bit differant than in the past and looked like something modern fans of Olympic basketball would reconize.

Going into the 1960 Olympics in Rome, it looked like the US could be beaten. The US had lost in the World Basketball Championships and the world claimed to be catching up. Instead, the US assembled one of the best national teams the country and world had ever seen. But just because the US assembled one of its best teams did not mean that there were no contraversies surround the roster. The US held trials for the roster. Previously teams were selected from the best AAU team and the best NCAA team, but now the AAU and NCAA were fighting over who would control amateur basketball and by in USA basketball. The trials were held in Denver, Colorado and consisted of eight teams; cheif amongst them was the Ohio State Buckeyes national championship team; a team of NCAA all-stars, the NAIA all-star team, and the AAU champion Peoria Caterpillar Cats. The NCAA all-stars won the tournament handily. and because of this Pete Newell was named head coach and 1956 head coach Warren Womble as his main assistant.

When fans think of dominate American basketball teams, the 1956 team is seldom mentioned, but statistically it was the most dominate team the US has ever sent to the Summer games. The plus 428 point differential is the most amongst any US Olympic team, even beating the vaunted 1992 Dream Team by 75 points. The only other American team that comes close to their level of dominance is the 2007 AmeriCup team with a +395 point differential, and they played 10 games compared to the 8 games the 1956 team played.

Like previous years the US selected the best amateur players in the country, but unlike previous teams the 1956 team would be lead by a player everyone knew had their sights set on the NBA: 6'10" Bill Russell.

The University of San Francisco sent not only Russell, but team KC Jones as well. One again the Philips 66ers made up the majority of the roster with 5 players being selected from the AAU juggernaut. Three players were also selected from the US Armed Forces, another AAU star and Carl Cain from the University of Iowa rounded out the roster. The team was coached by Gerry Tucker.

The hyper for the US team was something previously unseen and something that would take nearly 40 years until it was seen again. Unlike Helsinki, the US team went into Melbourne as the clear favorites. Jones and Russell were college stars that were dominating the NCAA and Bill Hougland returning from 1952 made the team seem invincible.

Going into the 1952 Olympics it was anything but a sure bet than the US would win gold. The Soviets had finally put together a very solid basketball program and the US had lost its first major international competiton in 1950 when it lost to Argentina in the World Basketball Championships (Now the FIBA World Cup)

The US once again went with all amatuer players. Bob Kurland was once again on the team as was Philips 66er teammate Wayne Glasgow. Seven members of the Kansas Jayhawks national championship team were also on the roster as were five members of the Peoria Caterpillars AAU team. The team was coached by Warren Womble and his lead assistant was Phog Allen.

The 1952 games were held in Helsinki, Finland, inside the Tennnispalatsi arena. The number of teams competing was also cut from 23 to just 16.

The US began the Olympic with a rare double header on July 25th. The US first faced off again Hungary and built an early large half-time lead 37-23, but the Hungarians stayed with the US in the second half mainly due to some favorable officiating. The US ended up winning 66-48.

After 12 years of war and atrocities unlike civilization had ever seen, the Olympics returned in 1948 and along with them basketball. This time the games were hosted in a much friendlier city in London. Once again the US team was made up of Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and college players. The 1948 team was coached by Bud Browning.

Unlike in 1936, players from more than two AAU teams were chosen as representatives for the US. Though, the Philips 66ers did have 5 players from their AAU chosen to represent the US and the University of Kentucky also had 5 players. The rest of the rosters represented Baylor, The Oakland Bittnners and Denver Nuggets

The 1948 squad was loaded with talent and chief among those was the quintuplet of Kentucky Wildcats of Cliff Barker, Ralp Heard, Alex Groza, Wally Jones and Kenny Rollins. These five players lead the Wildcats to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1948 and 1949. The team also had the three best AAU players in Don Barksdale, Vince Boryla and Bob Kurland.

The 1948 games also seen some other major changes from 1936. The rule attempting to disqualify players 6'2" and above was abolished, and the games were played in doors. Another rule that got changed was that all 14 players were available for every game, not just 7. The 1936 gold medal game was a fiasco because of a downpour of rain making the outdoor clay court unplayable.

Basketball has become a staple of the Summer Olympics, but its a realtive newcomer to the games. During the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, the game was part of an exhabition of new sports that was shown. Three teams played in St. Louis; the United States, Canada and Cuba. The US beat Cuba 3-2 in the final game. Likewise, there was a basketball exhabition for the 1924 games in Paris were the United Kingdom won. But the very first time basketball was an Olympic sport was in 1936 in Berlin.

The Berlin Games are famous for a lot of reasons and basketball's inclusion to the Games is little noted. The Games were given to Germany who had just recently seen the Nazi's take over.

Basketball had just been invented in the United States by James Naismith less than 40 years earlier had ballooned in popularity by the late 1920s and many were excited to see the best players in the world compete against each other. The US was heavy favorites for a medal because most colleges and universities by this point had teams and the amateur game in the US was second to none.