On August 29, Noah Lyles, an American track and field phenomenon, hit the nail on the head. After winning the World Cup in Hungary in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters relay, the athlete suddenly attacked the NBA. “Do you know what hurts me the most? I have to watch the NBA Finals and whoever wins is crowned world champion. World champions what? from the United States? Do not misunderstand. I love America, sometimes, but this is not the world. We are the world. We have almost all countries here fighting, thriving and waving their flags to show that they are represented. “There are no flags in the NBA,” he said.
His words, of course, made him the target of a large amount of criticism from NBA stars such as Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Tyler Herro also Aaron Gordon. But Lyles, we understand, was pointing out the imbalance between US basketball and the rest of its sports disciplines, with stars like Katie Ledecky (swimming), Simone Biles (artistic gymnastics) or the same record holder he was used to. They show up summer after summer to represent their country, while the Basketball Kings do it whenever they want.
In fact, just a few days after Lyles' words, the US national team added a new irony to the World Cup in Indonesia and the Philippines, after being eliminated in the semi-finals by Germany, the future champion, and increasing its drought in the international tournament, without victories since then. 2006, but of course between stumbles and criticism directed at his compatriot and with The Olympic Games in Paris Around the corner, the narrative wrote itself. Today, Wednesday, the scenario was published. The United States would once again bring an unprecedented team to the French event to win its fifth Olympic gold.
The American Federation, with a solemn video and the phrase “What would happen if our best basketball players were gathered on one team?”, announced its terrifying candidacy. LeBron JamesStephen Curry, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and, above all, Joel Embiid, an amazing center who decided not to go with France to join the Americans, are the most famous names on the list. Constellation, as usual, thrives on revenge to make its victory even more exciting.
It all started in the early years of the 21st century. After the majestic performance of the “Dream Team” in the 1990s, the United States added three major tournaments without reaching the final: the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals, and the most painful World Cup matches. Athens 2004. It used to be that the team was full of promising young players and college players, but as basketball became a global sport and mass phenomenon, its quality became inadequate. With the throne lost, the NBA's great stars at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing conspired to form the team. “Salvation Team”recovery team.
with copy printWith LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade at the helm, the Americans swept China and showed only a few cracks in the massive final against Spain, which ended 117-108. A massive invasion, revealed in the Netflix documentary Redemption Team, repeated in London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, built a new roadmap. Go to World Cup events without your biggest stars, with little hope of winning the title, motivate yourself and sweep the games. Paris, of course, will be no exception.
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