The modern Dream Team has been officially renamed the Redeem Team. Groups of players are taking the time out to spend time together for two-three years in preparation for the biggest event of their lives. To recapture basketball gold and claim it back for the United States. These are players who are sacrificing their bruised egos and playing for the team. This is a different USA basketball team. It was a long and hard journey for these twelve NBA stars, but they finally reclaimed their basketball gold in Beijing when they defeated Argentina in the gold medal match. No way were they realizing that their opponents were no pushovers anymore. No way. They played like a team and died like a team. These were players among the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant.
Although a few of Team USA's star-studded roster players learned a few things over the summer, they lamented few individual accolades and added several new skills to their overall game. Carmelo Anthony added defensive intensity to his overall game. Kobe Bryant learned how to be a vocal leader for this squad. Dwayne Wade stepped up on his game and showed doubters that he is still a force to be reckoned with.
I'll tell you what has changed for the basketball game so far. Now, international basketball teams have the advantage of playing in international rules and that benefits them. They also have the advantage of having the personnel and the management to play with the same teammates that they have had for so long. They know their teammates and they have their teammates' backs because of the years that they have spent playing together. Last of all, it is the team game that is playing harmoniously, the passing, the shooting, the rebounding, the defending, all smoothly done in a fluid motion and straight line. That is the backbreaker of why international basketball teams are doing so much better than the Americans are. There is no ego in international basketball. Not in their book.
Which is why you see American players playing for European basketball leagues, because the competition is much more competitive than in the US. Although the NBA does not see eye-to-eye on a few issues, they think that the Euro league promotes basketball goodwill because Americans are playing basketball overseas. They actually think it's good for business for them. If I were the NBA commissioner, I would definitely see this globalization of basketball as a challenge. I would challenge every single NBA team to change their ways of putting together a team and try to shape their organization like the Europeans have. Orient a team-type player with other like-minded individuals.
Although the San Antonio Spurs organization comes close to matching the European basketball game, it is one of the few basketball models that have matched what truly playing team basketball is all about. I predict in the future that more basketball players will flock out over to Europe to play overseas because the competition will benefit them and make them better players. Just like the political economy nowadays, China and India have been dreamed of overtaking the US empire with its growing markets. They may not have the best basketball players, but they have copied the American-style way of doing business and incorporated it into their own behavior. The US will still be the dominant superpower of the 21st century, however, the fact remains that the world has caught up with them, economically, politically, and globally, especially basketball.
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