Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images
Team USA men’s basketball faces a tough group to open the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The opening games for the 2024 Mens’ Olympic basketball tournament begin July 27, and of course, the heavy favorite is Team USA. Led by Olympic legends such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant and flanked by the games’ latest stars like Anthony Edwards and Bam Adebayo, the USA go into the Olympics looking to repeat as gold medal winners, but are looking for redemption after failing to medal in the FIBA World Cup. The old guard like James and Durant are coming in for one last ride after not playing in the Tokyo Olympics, but this is also the debut appearance for Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid. While the US is still believed to win the whole thing, the rest of the world is catching up, and Team USA needs a strong showing in Paris to solidify their place at the top of the basketball world.
Here’s how Team USA shakes out on their quest for gold in Paris.
USA Basketball’s men’s group
Team USA are in Group C, along with Serbia, Puerto Rico and South Sudan.
Serbia are led by perennial MVP candidate Nikola Jokic, along with NBA players Nikola Jovic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Aleksej Pokusevski and Vasilije Micic. Of course, Jokic will be the one to get all of the attention, but the Serbian national team has had their fair share of success in international play, most recently finishing in the top ten of the FIBA Eurobasket tournament in 2022.
South Sudan might not have the star talent of Serbia or Team USA, but they have a lot of length and defensive potential. Led by NBA players Bol Bol, Wenyen Gabriel and JT Thor, South Sudan is going to be a problem on the defensive side of the court. Most will remember Puerto Rico for the 92-73 beatdown they gave the USA in 2004 when former Utah Jazz guard Carlos Arroyo scored 24 points. Well Puerto Rico is back in the Olympics after a thrilling victory in qualifying over Lithuania, where New Orleans Pelicans PG Jose Alvarado scored 23 points. You can see how much the Olympic berth means to Alvarado and Arroyo, who were in tears after the victory:
USA Basketball men’s schedule for 2024 Paris Olympics
Here’s what the USA’s fixtures will look like in group play:
USA vs Serbia: Jul. 28, 11:15 AM EST/NBC
USA vs South Sudan: Jul. 30, 3:00 PM EST/NBC
USA vs Puerto Rico: Aug. 3, 11:15 AM EST/NBC
From there, the US will enter the quarterfinals where their opponent is based on how many games they win in group play. The quarterfinals will start Aug. 6.
