Top 5 Team USA Basketball Teams
5. 1996
With great players like Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Gary Payton leading the charge this team, despite Michael Jordan withdrawing from consideration, is still worthy of respect and recognition.
Leading Scorer: Charles Barkley (12.4)
Leading Rebounder: Charles Barkley (6.6)
Assists Leader: Gary Payton (4.5)
4. 2012
Following an impressive 2008 team, this 2012 roster is very underrated and doesn’t get enough credit for how good they were. Including great NBA players like LeBron, KD, Melo, and Kobe they were said by Jerry Colangelo to be deeper, more athletic and more experienced than the 2008 Redeem Team.
Leading Scorer: Kevin Durant (19.5)
Leading Rebounder: Kevin Love (7.6)
Assists Leader: LeBron James (5.6)
3. 2024
This year’s team played the best competition on the list and still managed to bring the Gold home by relying on veterans to lead by example like LBJ, Steph, and KD. We also got a promising sneak peak into the future with young talent like Anthony Edwards performing at a high level in his role, along with Bam Adebayo.
Leading Scorer: Stephen Curry (14.8)
Leading Rebounder: LeBron James (6.8)
Assists Leader: LeBron James (8.6)
MVP: LeBron James
2. 1992
Nicknamed “The Dream Team” because of the stacked roster of Hall of Fame players that was picked for the roster. Their margin of victory was 44 ppg; with their highest point differential in a game being 68 points, Greatness.
Leading Scorer: Charles Barkley (18)
Leading Rebounder: Patrick Ewing & Karl Malone (5.3)
Assists Leader: Scottie Pippen (5.9)
1.2008
They were dubbed “The Redeem Team” because of their road to redemption following a Bronze medal performance in the 2004 Olympics. They did not disappoint whatsoever. Probably one of the best decisions in basketball history, they decided to bring Kobe Bryant in to lead the charge and he proceeded to set the tone from Day 1 and of course they brought home the Gold Medal.
Leading Scorer: Dwayne Wade (16)
Leading Rebounder: Chris Bosh (6.9)
Assists Leader: Chris Paul (4)
This list only got me excited for the next Olympics, but the only thing is that its not until 2028. In anticipation of the 2028 team, I would like to predict the 12 man roster using our current pool of players:
Starting 5 (as of today)
PG: Ja Morant
SG: Anthony Edwards
SF: Jayson Tatum
PF: Bam Adebayo
C: Anthony Davis
Reserves: LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker, Zion Williamson, Paulo Banchero, Cade Cunningham, Chet Holmgren
Team Leaders Predictions:
Leading Scorer: Anthony Edwards (18)
Leading Rebounder: Anthony Davis (7.4)
Assists Leader: LaMelo Ball (5.8)
MVP: Anthony Edwards