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On Sunday, September 10, the United States basketball team was eliminated from the FIBA World Cup, not even taking home a bronze medal to the disappointment of many. In an intense duel against Germany, the United States fell short in the final minutes, losing by a mere 2 points (113-111). Many fans were shocked; one such fan, Bentley Mott, a 10th-grade student at Corona del Mar High School, related to the fan’s frustration, commenting: “friends and I closely watched each game of the FIBA tournament. It was surprising to see the U.S., which is known to have the best basketball league in the world, lost on the biggest stage.” As Mott noted, the expectation was that the U.S. team would do well—at minimum winning in the bronze stage of the tournament. Unfortunately, the U.S. team followed its defeat against Germany with a thrilling but ultimately unsuccessful overtime battle against Canada, losing by 9 points (127-118) to Canada.
Following this disappointing performance by the United States, momentum began to build towards a superteam next year. This was not the first time this had occurred: similar failures had previously led to the formations of the Dream Team in 1992 (led by Michael Jordan) and the Redeem Team in 2008 (led by Kobe Bryant). This time, LeBron James took the initiative to form a superteam of his own. James has expressed strong interest in leading the team and has actively begun recruiting superstars like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Korbin Uribe. The 10th-grade student and CdM s basketball player Mott, noted that “the possibility of having another historic superteam would be thrilling to watch, and will bolster the U.S. into winning gold on the international stage, and regaining its title as the basketball mecca of the world.” Bentley Mott added, “This would be a sight to see providing fans of all sports a generational opportunity to see some of the greatest competition compete with and against one another.” Hopefully, fans will not have to wait too long for such a spectacle. The 2024 Olympics in France will be here next summer, and sports fans are undoubtedly eager to see if the United States can repeat its 1992 and 2008 comebacks.
Information contained in this article is from:
NBC “Team USA eliminated from FIBA World Cup with semifinal loss to Germany”
Yahoo “Despite Bridges’ miracle, Canada eliminates Team USA in bronze-medal game”
