Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James on Friday fueled speculation that he could represent Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
sports center An image created by The Dunk Central was posted on Instagram showing the potential 2024 U.S. Olympic roster, which includes James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard and Kawhi Leonard.
LeBron responded to the post with a 👀 emoji, suggesting he’s at least considering competing in the Olympics.
James won a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2004 Summer Olympics and twice won gold medals in 2008 and 2012, but he chose not to compete in the 2016 and 2020 games.
The Olympic post likely stems from Team USA’s 113-111 loss to Germany in the 2023 FIBA World Cup semifinals on Friday, meaning they will not win their second straight World Cup.
In 2019, Team USA had their worst performance at the FIBA World Cup, ranking seventh, but at the 2020 Summer Olympics, they rebounded and won gold with a lineup of Durant, Tatum, Lillard, and Booker. .
It marked the U.S.’s fourth consecutive men’s basketball gold medal at the Olympics, and with hopes of a rebound at the World Cup dwindling, the U.S. could only finish a little better than third.
Although the United States team is favored in the FIBA World Cup and has a solid lineup, there is no real American superstar on the team.
In fact, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and Jaren Jackson Jr. were the only players to be named NBA All-Stars and named to Team USA last season.
The 2020 Olympics roster was more star-studded, but even that team was missing players like LeBron, Curry, Leonard, Butler and Davis, so the team wasn’t as dominant as it could have been.
While the 1992 Dream Team is the standard for American basketball and will likely never be matched, the team imagined by The Dunk Central is arguably the closest thing to the Dream Team to date.
This could also be the 38-year-old James’ Olympic swan song, because he will be 43 when the 2028 Olympics come and it’s unclear whether he will still compete.
Team USA has remained the basketball world leader for the past two Olympics without LeBron, but there’s no doubt they’ll be a more complete and dangerous team with the NBA’s all-time scoring leader , and is arguably the best player in the world. squad.