USA Basketball: Blame The Players Who Didn't Play

Christian Martinelli

USA basketball has been notoriously dominating the sport and all international contests for the entire history of basketball. The only time the US hasn’t won a gold medal in the Olympics was 1972, 1980, 1988, 2004, and coming into this 2019 FIBA basketball world cup the US had won 58 consecutive games without a loss.

Although a lot is expected of the United States basketball team, they weren’t even close to the best roster being put out in the tournament. It could be easily argued that Serbia, Australia, France, and Spain had better rosters than they did. 

The US did a pitiful job of getting any star players to play for the team instead ended up with a bunch of average, and even bench players filling the United States squad.

It’s clear that many of the better players in the NBA think that they are above this tournament, and don’t find it important to represent their country. This awful seventh place performance is a representation of that, and it was a total embarrassment to USA basketball and to the country that has popularized the sport around the world. 

Being able to play for team USA should be an honor, not a burden. Not that all the best players should have to play, but it shouldn’t be like pulling teeth to put a halfway decent team out on the court. You’re the US FREAKING A for goodness sake.

The US should be winning every tournament they take part in. 

It’s not a slight at the other teams in the world, but a complement to how dominant the United States players are. The NBA is made up of a large majority of Americans, so there’s no excuse for saying there wasn’t a big pool or that they’re just weren’t enough options everyone knows that wasn’t the case and this awful finish is a result of that. 

The guys that played in the tournament have nothing to be ashamed of, they weren’t the best team and they probably lost to a better team. 

The guys who didn’t show up and didn’t have the guts to play for their country are the ones who should be embarrassed about this loss. 

They let USA basketball down, and now there is a big international embarrassment to show for it. There should never be an issue getting players again, and should be a wake up call to the best players in the world to show them that it is important that they play in these tournaments and properly represent the United States. 

We’re the best at basketball, so let’s be the best at basketball damnit.

---

Read More 990WBOB

• The GOP may be Ensuring Failure with Cancelled Primaries
• 5 Places Trump Might Buy Instead of Greenland
• Taste Test: The Impossible Whopper
• Are Some Candidates too Old to Run for President?