If those answers don’t come back in the affirmative, the path to a gold medal could be fraught. This is the deepest pool of talent the men’s competition has ever seen, and if you don’t think Team USA has realized the extent to which the gap has narrowed, just listen to what Kerr had to say earlier this week.
“It’s time, you know?” Kerr said during a group interview session with reporters at Thursday’s practice. “We’re not traveling around anymore. We’re here. We’ve got six games. We’ve got to get into the pool play, advance, and then it’s [like the] NCAA Tournament. So we need 40 minutes of force, attention, and focus, and we can’t let teams outplay us with effort and energy like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.”
History is there for the taking, and for many of this team’s biggest names, Paris represents their last shot at Olympic glory. It’s time.
LeBron James vs. Nikola Jokic head-to-head
Arguably the greatest player of all-time against arguably the greatest player right now. LeBron and Jokic might not wind up matched up with each other very often, but they’ll both have an outsized effect on Sunday’s game. Which superstar has the edge? Let’s break things down with a quick tale of the tape.
Over their first nine NBA seasons:
- Both had three NBA MVP Awards, earning them in the same relative seasons (six, seven and nine)
- Both averaged 6.9 assists; LeBron had 27.6 points and 6.9 rebounds, while Jokic tallied 20.9 and 10.7
- LeBron had eight NBA All-Star Game selections, while Jokic had six
- Both won NBA Rookie of the Year
Note: LeBron entered the league at age 19, while Jokic started at 20
What do their matchups in the NBA tell us about how this one might go? LeBron and Jokic have met 35 times over the course of their careers, 21 in the regular season and 14 in the playoffs. Jokic holds the 19-16 edge in those games, averaging a very Jokic-ian 22.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists in those games. LeBron, meanwhile, has averaged 26.9, 8.2 and 8.6, respectively. Of course, Jokic has had the last laugh of late, bouncing James’ Lakers from the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
The women’s tournament gets underway
The U.S. women’s team has to wait until Monday for their Paris debut, but Group A will get underway on Sunday with a pair of intriguing matchups. 2016 silver medalists Spain face off against China, while upstart Puerto Rico meets 2016 bronze medalists Serbia in just its second-ever Olympics appearance.
