Basketball: The United States will play two friendlies at the O2 in London before the Olympic Games

Beyond the controversy between Noah Lyles and several of the main North American basketball players over the fact that the winners of the NBA perceive themselves as world champions, the hegemony of that country both at the Olympic level and in the context of the top FIBA tournament is unquestionable.

A hegemony that, as soon as Yugoslavians and Soviets (some time later, Serbs, Croats, Lithuanians or Argentines), the North Americans gave the world of sports that wonder of virtuosity and forcefulness called Dream Team that filled our eyes in Barcelona 92.

Jordan, Magic, Barkley, Pippen, Bird and company’s band represented the highest point of that commitment that, on the way to Paris, dreams of getting even a little closer to that unrepeatable glory.

The North American team will first face South Sudan on July 20 at the O2 Arena in London and two days later they will play Germany on the same stage, USA Basketball reported on Tuesday. The rivals are not random, but rather they are the last world champion and the sensation of African basketball, who qualified for an Olympic event for the first time in its history.

Basketball in Paris 2024 will be played from July 27 to August 10, with the peculiarity that the group stage will be held in the city of Lille, while the final stages will be held at the Bercy Arena in Paris. The reason for this split has to do with the overlap of the preliminary schedule with the artistic gymnastics competition.

LeBron James (Lakers), two-time Olympic champion in 2008 and 2012, is one of the NBA superstars who made public his interest in helping the United States achieve a fifth consecutive gold medal in Paris 2024. There is also expectation with the participation of Stephen Curry (Warriors) and Kevin Durant (Suns). There are even versions that indicate that Cameroonian Joel Embiid (Sixers), a recently nationalized American national, will also be on the roster.

This new version of the “Dream Team” promised to stand up after falling far short of the goal in the last World Cup in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan, where the North Americans fell in the semifinals to the later champion Germany.

“This is a great opportunity to play against the United States right before the Olympic Games,” said Germany’s coach Gordon Herbert. “A final set-up to compete against probably the favorite for Paris 2024. It’s a very good rod for us,” added the technical director of the last world champion.

The South Sudanese national team, whose federation is led by former NBA Luol Deng, also welcomed the invitation: “As a young and developing program, South Sudan basketball recognizes and appreciates the importance of every stage of our progress. We accept this invitation as an opportunity to compete at an elite level,” said Deng, who was part of the British squad at the London 2012 Olympic Games.