The quest for the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics could have been secured by Team USA, but retired professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal thinks they did not measure up to their overall performance. In an interview on ‘The BIG Podcast,’ O’Neal expressed his worries about the team’s inability to dominate their opponents, which is vital to be perceived as the best basketball nation globally.
“I don’t even watch the Olympics,” said O’Neal. “See, I am a dominant personality. Like my cousin Kenny and I argued about this upstairs, it doesn’t matter who you are. My cousin argues that ‘the world is getting close,’ but I disagree.
We won [USA Basketball] 97-95; you beat South Sudan by one [possession]. Come on, man, bro! That is never supposed to happen”.
Shaquille O’Neal High Standards
O’Neal has always insisted that he only expects the best from the national squad.
The former center scored 23.7 points per game while also averaging 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks on a .580 field goal percentage during his career in basketball at seven foot one inch tall. His prime years were with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won three titles playing alongside Kobe Bryant; these are what Shaq believes every United States jersey should represent.
According to O’Neal himself, anything less than total domination is a failure. Even though they won gold, their narrow victories indicate a decline. Regarding international participation in men’s basketball, since NBA players were allowed to play at the Olympics starting in 1992, there has been no doubt about who rules the sport from America’s side.
The standard was set by the first-ever Dream Team, and any other team since then has been expected to uphold it. However, this year’s team, featuring superstars such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, proved its mettle against all odds.
Different from any other team, South Sudan presented itself as a difficult opponent in the exhibition stage of this tournament. For a long time, the team from Africa had been known for its great strength in three-point shooting, which kept them ahead and required a layup at the buzzer to give USA a 97-95 win.
