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Amid Team USA's dominant 2024 Paris Olympic run, it remains the prohibitive favorite to win the men's basketball tournament. According to NBA legend Charles Barkley, the Americans' victory should be considered a foregone conclusion, and falling short of a gold medal should bring consequences.
Team USA has gone 8-0 through five exhibition games and three group-phase contests, booking itself a quarterfinal matchup against Brazil on Tuesday. It didn't face a legitimate threat in group play, decisively defeating Serbia (110-84), South Sudan (103-86) and Puerto Rico (104-83) to win Group C.
The Americans' wealth of star power, headlined by superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant, has been too much for opponents to handle thus far. The squad's immense depth has even allowed coach Steve Kerr to omit superstars like Jayson Tatum and Joel Embiid from his rotation in certain matchups.
A day before Tuesday's quarterfinal clash against the Brazilians, Barkley touched on Team USA's gold medal hopes on "Podcast P with Paul George." He noted that while the world's basketball talent has elevated, a considerable gap still exists between the U.S. and every other country.
"Have the international teams gotten better? 100%. They're still not better than the United States," Barkley said. "You take away [Nikola Jokic], and Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and Luka [Doncic], all three guys are great, great players — Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] is great also, but we still got the next 10 best players in every game.
"Ain't nobody bringing nobody off the bench better than Jayson Tatum. Ain't nobody bringing anybody off the bench better than Kevin Durant. The international teams have gotten better, but there's never an excuse for the United States not to win the gold medal. We've got the best team; we've got the best players by far," he added.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist later warned Team USA about how embarrassing it would be if it failed to bring home the gold.
"If they lose, we can't let them back in the country," Barkley said. "I told them, they can't come back."
The Americans are seeking their fifth consecutive gold medal at the men's basketball tournament. They last failed to achieve gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, falling 89-81 to Argentina in the semifinals en route to a bronze medal.
Paul George concurs with Charles Barkley, says Team USA should have "no shot at losing" at Olympics
After Charles Barkley broke down why Team USA should run away with another Olympic gold medal, Paul George agreed, pointing out its adversaries' shortcomings.
The newly acquired Philadelphia 76ers star said that some of the Americans' biggest threats like Canada and France lack size and reliable guard play. Thus, according to George, if his country is "locked in," it has "no shot at losing."
Entering the quarterfinals, Team USA is a -600 favorite to win the tournament, giving it an 85.71% implied probability of doing so. So, it will likely take a monumental 40-minute effort from an opposing team to pull off an upset.
