5 Times USA Basketball Team Lost A Tournament
Winning a marquee tournament is a dream of any sportsperson across all competitive sport. Basketball is no exception to it. But, what makes this beautiful sport's marquee events unique and difficult are the rules or game format, which are slightly different from the regular NBA games. International Basketball Federation, more commonly known as FIBA is the governing body of International Basketball events. Moreover, before the 90s professional NBA players were not allowed to participate in Olympics, which was rescinded after the 1992 Olympics.
The USA National Basketball Team has dominated the whole world and has been the epicenter of Basketball since the invention of the game. But at times, this monopoly was not only being challenged but also rested in abeyance from the reach of the United States. Ever since the 1996 Olympics, US Basketball had endured a gold medal drought for a better part of 12 years. It finally ended in Beijing, 2008.
Here today, we will discuss the all-time major USA Basketball Team losses in any major tournament. Here's our compilation:
#5- Summer Olympics 2004
(Bronze)
The 2004 Summer Olympics proved to be a debacle for the USA team. The Team registered two early losses against Puerto Rico (92-73) and Lithuania (94-90) in league stage matches. The USA faced formidable Argentina in the semifinal and lost by an eight (89-81) point differential, forcing them to play in the bronze medal match. The team wasn't star-studded barring Allen Iverson, Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Tim Duncan. There were many other reasons for the failure, which included-
1 - Amid 9/11 attack forced many players to take a personal decision not to participate because of the security concerns, it included Mike Bibby and Tracey McGrady.
2- Several players were injured and not in the condition to play, this included players like Jason Kidd, Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O' Neal.
3- Several sighted personal reasons like marriages and family function.
4- No Kobe Bryant, because of the hearing for sexual assault case against Kobe.
5- Coach Larry Brown had only 2 weeks to prepare with his team.
On the other side were the Argentinians under Coach Sergihich o Hernandez. The star-laden team which included players like Carlos Delfino, Andrés Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto, Emanuel Ginóbili and Alejandro Montecchia, all of whom have played in the NBA proceeded to defeat the United States.