Open Thread: Proposal for an Olympic-style All-Star Game

No one wants to wait four years for an international showdown

Olympic basketball has long been dominated by the United States. Since its addition to the summer games in 1936, the United States won the gold medal each time until 1972, when a controversial call causing the game’s final three seconds to be replayed three times led to the Soviet Union taking the gold. The U.S. filed a formal protest that was rejected by FIBA. The American team would have won had the game not been re-started.

In 1988, the United States took home the bronze medal.

Up until 1992, the sport had been limited to amateur players, but the Barcelona Olympics saw the creation of the “Dream Team,” an all-star caliber squad of many of the best NBA players. Since this time, the U. S. has only failed to earn the gold once.

Steve Kerr made an interesting point last week after Team USA took gold in Paris, stating “ I think we might be the only team in the world whose fans are ashamed of them if they get a silver medal.”

At the same time, many pundits have expressed that the rest of the world is catching up to the United States. America winning the gold is not a foregone conclusion and the games have become more competitive. That sounds about right considering many of the top players in the NBA come from foreign countries.

Over the last six seasons, three foreign-born players have dominated the NBA’s MVP award. For the last two seasons the first picks in the NBA draft have come from France.

The rest of the world is indeed catching up, but when everyone returns to their national team, the international talent is spread a little thin, leaving the United States to continue to hold the gold.

Here’s an idea — add a Team USA vs. Team World to the NBA All-Star Weekend.

There have been years when the NBA hosts similar preseason events. They also bolstered this concept during the Rising Stars portion of the ASW. Nike has their Hoop Summit. But these are players representing those teams, not the best of the best.

How about a game that pits the All-Stars into this format.

Team USA could have familiar faces- LeBron, AD, Curry, KD, Edwards, Booker, Adebayo, Paul George, Haliburton, Tatum, Maxey, Brown, and Brunson all played in last year’s All-Star Game.

Team World’s have options include Wembanyama, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic, Doncic, Antetokounmpo, Jamal Murray, Porzingis, Irving, Sabonis, Siakam, Giddey, Wagner, Hachimura…the list goes on.

Last season there were 125 international players form 40 countries. That’s nearly one-fourth of the NBA. For over a decade, there have been at least 100 international players on NBA rosters come opening night.

The rest of the world is catching up, but there is still a long way to go before one single country can dominate Team USA for 40 minutes of FIBA basketball in the Olympics.

France came close. If it were not for two-minutes of unconscious Stephen Curry expertise, perhaps the French could have pulled off the upset. It will be four years before we can hope for a rematch.

Until then, let’s consider adding an annual All-Star showdown between the Best of the West, and the Rest of the Best.

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