Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid tempered expectations Saturday regarding Team USA’s status as the odds-on favorite to win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Speaking to David Marchese of the New York Times, Embiid suggested that there are other teams as talented as the United States, and warned that several of Team USA’s players are no longer in their prime, including Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James:
“You look at the talent that the U.S. has, but there’s equal talent on other teams,” he said. “And the talent that’s on the U.S. team, you also got to understand most of those guys are older. The LeBron now is not the LeBron that was a couple of years ago. So it’s a big difference.
“Everybody would also tell you, and you can see for yourself, the athletic LeBron, dominant that he was a couple of years ago, is not the same that he is now. I think people get fooled by the names on paper. But those names have been built throughout their career, and now they’re older. They’re not what they used to be.”
To Embiid’s point, seven of Team USA’s 12 players are 30 years of age or older, including himself, LeBron, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
The 39-year-old James is the oldest active player in the NBA, but he continues to be one of the league’s most productive players.
In 2023-24, LeBron appeared in 71 games—his most since the 2017-18 campaign. He also averaged 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 three-pointers made and 1.3 steals per contest.
It is fair to say James isn’t as explosive as he was in his younger years, but his basketball IQ is arguably higher than ever before, as is his ability to elevate those around him.
That will be a key attribute at the Olympics since James will be playing alongside a star-studded group of players, all of whom have a chance to contribute in a big way.
It should also be noted that among the veteran leadership is some youthful exuberance, as Anthony Edwards is 22 and Tyrese Haliburton is 24. Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker and Bam Adebayo are all 27 or younger as well.
France, Serbia, Canada, Australia and Spain are among the teams that could push the Americans in Paris, but Team USA entered Saturday with a 3-0 record in exhibition play, and they have largely looked like a cohesive unit despite limited experience playing together.
A fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal is far from guaranteed for Team USA, but no team comes close to having the depth of talent that they possess.