The painful participation of the United States in the 2023 Basketball World Cup has come to an end. After losing badly to Germany in the semi-finals and Canada’s victory in the third place match, Team USA is in for a tough time. There are many people complaining on social networks about the disaster of Steve Kerr’s team in the World Cup, also wondering why the coach did not get some of the best stars of the NBA in the competition. However, unlike other sports such as football, Steve Kerr did nothing to convince the players.
The United States is called to be the big opponent to beat in the new edition of the Basketball World Cup. There are many analysts who claim another victory in the American Dream Team competition, but nothing could be further from the truth. Little by little, the United States will begin to reveal its shortcomings. Steve Kerr did not call some stars like LeBron James, Stephen Cury, Kevin Durant or Jayson Tatum or Kawhi Leonard for that reason and he will pay dearly for it.
There are many keys to understanding this North American crash in Asia to understand the ‘no’ of the call stars. For the NBA and the most proven players, the Basketball World Cup does not have the same weight as the Olympic Games, where the United States always manages to put together a dream team to fight for Gold . In Tokyo 2020, stars like Tatum, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green, Zavh LaVine and Damian Lillard did not hesitate to sign up for Kerr’s challenge. In addition, for Paris 2024 there is already speculation about the possible appearance of LeBron James and Stephen Cury as leaders of the USA Team.
The second key has to do with the games the players will play throughout the season. The regular season of the NBA runs from October to April, consisting of up to 82 official games, which, added to the Play-Offs, can make the year sail into the summer. There are many players who would rather have a quieter and calmer off-season than say ‘yes’ to the USA Team to play in FIBA​​​​ tournaments. This tendency is usually more common among players who make it to the Finals or among the most veteran players.
A World Cup with no appetite for the USA
That the United States doesn’t care much about the Basketball World Cup is a half-truth. Even if the most established stars decide to quit, the USA Team will have to draw the ‘second line’ players in this sense, as happened in the last two editions. Although this type of player is usually enough for the American team to win the tournament, sometimes it is not. For this edition, Steve Kerr has gathered a team with many young talents that many franchises want, which proved to be unstoppable in the friendly phase before the tournament. However, it wasn’t long before the Dream Team ended up showing its seams.
