The U.S. men’s basketball team is once again the overwhelming favorite to win the Olympic Games, aiming for its fifth consecutive gold medal.
But even one of the most powerful teams in sports history is still unlikely to breeze through the Olympics like the 1992 Dream Team did, winning by an average of 44 points per game.
The world is better because of the Dream Team, and the talent in the NBA fills the rosters of so many other teams.
Canada, which lost an exhibition match against the United States 86-72 on Wednesday, has the talent to pull off an upset, led by MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray. France, with Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, has the most fearsome inside defense imaginable. Serbia has the best players in the world in Nikola Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nikola Jovic. Greece has Giannis Antetokounmpo, arguably the No. 2 player in the world. Germany has Dennis Schroder and the Wagner brothers.
