Who Should Start for This Year’s Olympic Men’s Basketball Team?
With the Summer Olympics in Paris approaching, it is an exciting time to watch the best athletes across the world compete in various sports. Americans are especially excited to watch basketball in the Olympics as it is a time when the best NBA players get to showcase their skills in a competitive setting, unlike the NBA’s All-Star Game. With basketball becoming a more worldwide sport, other international Olympic teams are starting to pose a bigger threat to America’s basketball dominance in the Olympics. Therefore, the starting lineup must set the tone for each game played in this year’s Olympics so that America can take home the gold once again. So out of all the talent between the 12 guys selected to be part of the team, what is the ideal starting five for this year’s national team?
PG: Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry is without a doubt the best shooter to ever play in the NBA. His outside shooting ability and relentless nature to work off the ball to set himself up to get amazing shots make him a terrifying matchup against any defender on the planet. His one big weakness at this stage in his career is his defensive ability, but his effort on both ends of the floor compensates for what he can’t do on the defensive end of the court. Curry also has the ability to work well with other amazing talent on the floor as demonstrated in the Warriors 2017 NBA Championship with Kevin Durant, who is on this team. This connection with Durant could offer a chemistry boost to a team that has to come together very quickly for the Olympics.
SG: Jayson Tatum
Jayson Tatum, at only 26 years old, is fresh off an NBA Championship victory, a big contract signing, and now will get to play for the U.S. Olympic team. Despite all the criticism that Tatum may receive, his ability to work well with others and provide consistent shooting and defensive intensity make him a perfect candidate to work with the starting lineup. In a lineup full of tremendous stars, you need a glue piece that will help others shine and still be able to get their own baskets when called upon. Tatum during this past playoff run showed he can help get his teammates all while dropping over 20 points a game himself. At his size of six foot and eight inches, he should be a taunting matchup at either the shooting guard or small forward position against whoever the US might face.
SF: LeBron James
How could one leave the King off the starting Olympic lineup? LeBron James has continued to show that age isn’t slowing him down and that he can still be elite at many different facets of the game. LeBron’s previous Olympic experience and leadership ability will give this starting lineup a true leader and voice while on the court. Additionally, with this lineup he would have his co-star from the Lakers, Anthony Davis on the court at the same time which should give them some chemistry going into the Olympic games. With this likely being LeBron’s last time on the Olympic roster, look for him to play with a lot of intensity to make his mark on the world stage one last time.
PF: Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant is a veteran sniper with a staggering six-foot and 11-inch frame. Kevin Durant has been on the Olympic stage before and brought home the gold to the USA. Although his age may prevent him from being on the team four years from now, he makes a great piece with this current roster. Durant can put up amazing performances with great mid-range shooting and his previous chemistry with Curry on the Warriors makes him a great pairing in the starting lineup. This entire starting lineup is built for a slower pace which will benefit Durant’s style of play.
C: Anthony Davis
It is hard to find a Center who plays with as much defensive intensity as Anthony Davis. With Davis having three All-NBA Defensive First-Team selections throughout his career, he can provide a great rim presence which will be vital with many great big men on other Olympic rosters throughout the world like Nikola Jokić on Serbia’s roster or Giannis Antetokounmpo on Greece’s. He and the other bigs on this team can expect to play big minutes for this team to compete against the other Olympic teams in contention for the gold. In this lineup, Davis should benefit from his experience with LeBron James which should help make him an effective offensive threat.
2nd Unit:
SG: Anthony Edwards
SF: Devin Booker
PF: Bam Adebayo
C: Joel Embiid
This second unit is remarkably young and fast which should create a great one-two punch during the Olympics. While the first team is designed to play a slower and more technical game, this second team is designed to be dynamic and insanely athletic. This will allow the USA roster to play with two completely different styles when certain personnel are on the floor. This will make it hard for opposing countries to try and gameplan against as the flexibility of this roster will allow Steve Kurr to make changes based on whatever the opposing team’s weaknesses are.
