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NBA forward Grant Williams previews men's basketball tournament at Paris 2024
The men's basketball competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 could be one of the most competitive in Olympic history, based on the wealth of talent across the 12 teams participating.
To help break down the tournament, Olympics.com sat down with NBA forward Grant Williams, who will be Olympics.com's exclusive basketball correspondent throughout the duration of Paris 2024.
The Charlotte Hornets star shared his thoughts on a number of topics for the competition, including how this US Olympic group compares to the iconic teams of 1992 and 2008, which teams and players he is keeping an eye on, and much more.
Grant Williams (left) in NBA action for the Charlotte Hornets (Photo by Getty Images)
In April, USA Basketball announced the men's national team who will compete at Paris 2024. The star-studded list is full of NBA and Olympic champions, MVPs and multi-time All-Stars, headlined by LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Joel Embiid.
"I was really pumped by the roster reveal because there's a lot of veterans, some guys who have a lot of international experience as well as others who haven't played international basketball in years, like Steph Curry," says Williams.
"The key players for the team are going to be the young guys, like Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum. How they perform is going to be huge, because we know the production that Kevin Durant and LeBron [James] are going to give us.
"Their impact on the defensive end is going to be important. Tatum, at 6ft 10in, should be able to guard forwards and be physical, and be a massive nightmare for opponents on offense. And then you have Anthony Edwards, who's going to be a spark plug off the bench, who can not only guard but also use his athleticism and get downhill to create plays for his teammates. It's going to be exciting to watch."
Anthony Edwards is expected to have a big impact for the USA (Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)
Williams also took time to emphasize what he feels are the USA's greatest strengths for Paris: skill and athleticism.
"In the US, versus in Europe, there's a ton of skill development focused on scoring the basketball, while in Europe there's greater emphasis on understanding how to play, pass and move," he says.
"The athleticism of the team, as well as the ability for multiple players to create their own shot, is going to be huge."
On the flip side, Williams has concerns about the team's lack of size.
"I'm interested to see how cohesive they are as a unit after the first couple of games. That might be their weakness," he says.
"On top of that, their [lack of] size could be a problem, because in Europe there's so many big men and a lot of them are very talented, both as playmakers and scorers."
LeBron James (center) will provide valuable veteran leadership to the younger stars on the squad (Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)
I expect the USA to win gold
When asked whether the USA can win a fifth consecutive (and 17th total) Olympic gold medal, Williams responds decisively.
"I believe the USA are heavy favourites," says Williams. "I expect them to win the gold. I think it's a disappointment if they don't.
"But I think there's a lot more competition in today's European basketball than there has been in the past.
"I'm excited to see if Germany will have another run like they did at the FIBA World Cup [Germany won gold in the tournament last year]. Then you have Spain, who are always talented but may not be the powerhouse that they used to be.
"The biggest competition for the US would be Serbia or France. Those are the two teams that would give the US the most problems."
To Williams' point, Serbia and France have seen success at the last two international tournaments, with Serbia reaching the World Cup final in 2023 and France earning the silver medal at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
"Serbia has [Nikola] Jokic and a lot of talented guards around him like Vasilije Micić," says Williams.
"France just have depth, but their issue is they have a lot of [inexperienced] guys. But the rest of the roster is pretty much veterans, like Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier, and they're international stars. On top of that, they have two seven-footers in Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert who provide physicality and rebounding.
"So it's something the USA will have to take on as a challenge, and say to themselves, 'Yes, we're going to build out, run and play fast and beat these guys down the floor'. But the question is, can we [the USA] make sure that we protect the basket, rebound and finish possessions?"
The USA roster that has been assembled for Paris is arguably the strongest in Olympic history, with one glaring exception: the 'Dream Team' of 1992.
The USA squad that competed at the Olympic Games in Barcelona has often been referred to as the best basketball team ever assembled - and with good reason. The 12-man roster was the first American Olympic team to feature active professional players from the NBA (including legendary players Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson) and their supreme talent was on full display as the USA beat their opponents by an average of 44 points en route to winning the gold medal.
So how does Williams think the 2024 Olympic team would compare against the Dream Team?
"I think they [the 2024 team] compete well, because they have one of the best players of all time [LeBron James], but so did the Dream Team [Michael Jordan]. And the Dream Team had a little more size and physicality through players like Karl Malone and Charles Barkley, but the 2024 squad is a little more skillful in the sense of being able to space the floor, play in transition downhill and being able to move the ball.
"In terms of the Dream Team, you can't really argue [if the 2024 squad is better] because it's one of the best teams ever.
"I'm excited to see how the USA performs [at Paris 2024] to be able to make that argument."
And what about the Redeem Team—a group containing more basketball icons in the form of Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and a 23-year-old LeBron James?
"The 2024 team stacks up pretty well, if not better, with the Redeem Team," says Williams.
"Even though all those guys [from the Redeem Team] were very skillful and talented, I think this team have a little more guard depth and perimeter ability."
Team USA have been drawn into Group C along with World Cup silver medallists Serbia, Olympic debutants South Sudan and Puerto Rico, one of the four winners from the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
The USA's first game will be against Nikola Jokic's Serbia on Sunday, 28 July, before taking on tournament newcomers South Sudan on 31 July. Their final group game against Puerto Rico is scheduled for Saturday, 3 August.
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