By Angelica Medina
LILLE (Reuters) – With a star-studded lineup of NBA and WNBA greats, the United States will hope to maintain their golden grip on basketball at the Paris Olympics, but several teams will be looking to spoil the party.
The U.S. women are bidding to become the first team in any Olympic sport to win eight consecutive gold medals, while the men will hope to make it five in a row with a record-extending 17th title overall.
The men’s team have one of the strongest rosters in their history featuring the likes of 39-year-old LeBron James, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant — a three-times gold medallist.
Yet ever since Michael Jordan’s ‘Dream Team’ clinched gold for the U.S. in 1992 to spark a wider global interest in the sport, the NBA has transcended American frontiers and European players have made their mark in the league — such as Serbia’s Nikola Jokic.
The 6-foot-11-inch (2.11m) all-conquering center led the Denver Nuggets to the NBA title in 2023 and Serbia, silver medallists in 2016, pose the biggest defensive challenge of any of the 12 teams in the competition.
Twice NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo will also be one to watch after Greece came through qualifying earlier this month to book their ticket to Paris.
Underdogs Puerto Rico, who also qualified earlier this month, are looking to make history in their first appearance at the Games in 20 years under the guidance of Jose Alvarado, a stalwart in both defence and attack.
South Sudan will also be among the contenders as they look to bring some joy to their country, with former NBA All-Star Luol Deng having been at the helm of the country’s basketball federation as its president since 2019.
EIGHT STRAIGHT?
The American women will be hoping to extend their winning streak with an experienced squad that includes nine gold medallists from the Tokyo Games, including Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson.
Joining them are two veterans — two-times Olympic gold medallist Brittney Griner and five-times gold medallist Diana Taurasi, the 42-year-old who could become the most decorated team athlete in Games history if the U.S. go home with a medal.
But several teams will be looking to end their winning run in Paris.
China won silver at the 2022 World Championships with 6-foot-7-inch Yueru Li and she will be joined by towering WNBA center Xu Han who is an inch shy of 7 feet.
Australia and Spain are perennial contenders too, ranked third and fourth in the FIBA rankings.
Belgium’s emergence as a basketball power is largely down to Emma Meesseman, a two-times EuroLeague MVP and a WNBA champion.
Germany will be making their first appearance at the Olympics and they will be led by Satou Sabally, who won the WNBA’s Most Improved Player award last year.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Lille, additional reporting Rohith Nair in Paris; Editing by Toby Davis)
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