Five Facts about Rio olympic basketball
A United States lineup of NBA stars will be heavy favorites to capture America’s 15th gold medal in men’s basketball, the third in a row and sixth in seven tries since the USA “Dream Team” era began in 1992 at Barcelona with a Michael Jordan-led superstar squad. The USA men are 130-5 in Olympic play and on a 17-game Olympic win streak from the 1994 Athens bronze medal game.
1. Some NBA stars withdrew from the US team for Rio, some citing Zika virus concerns. Among the absentees are LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis. But the US lineup is still formidable with forwards Kevin Durant, Paul George, Draymond Green, Carmelo Anthony and Harrison Barnes; guards Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson and centers DeAndre Jordan and DeMarcus Cousins.
2 The US Women’s NBA stars will be seeking a sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal and an eighth in nine tries. Since the opening tip of the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the US women are 55-1 in Games competition, losing only in the 1992 Barcelona semifinals to the eventual champion Commonwealth of Independent States squad of former Soviet talent.
3.Three-time Olympic champions Diana Taurasi, Tamika Catchings and Sue Bird will serve as captains with two-time Olympic gold medalists Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles, 2012 Olympic championship players Tina Charles, Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen also back.
4. The USA women were drawn into preliminary group B along with Canada, Senegal, Serbia, China and Spain. Pool A features Australia, Brazil, Japan, France, Turkey and Belarus. The USA men were drawn into Pool A along with Australia, China, France, Serbia and Venezuela. Group B features Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Lithuania, Croatia and Nigeria.
5. Mike Krzyzewski would become the first coach in Olympic men’s basketball history to win three gold medals if he can guide the American NBA stars to a title in Rio. Henry Iba coached the US team to gold in 1964 and 1968 but lost the controversial 1972 final to the Soviet Union. Carmelo Anthony would become the first man in Olympic history to win three gold medals if the USA win the title in Rio. The New York Knicks star forward helped the USA take gold in 2008 and 2012. Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James could have been going for the same unprecedented treble this year.