You would think watching the Seattle Seahawks’ destruction of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 48 would easily be the most fun this lifetime Seattle homer has had watching sports.
That was the case for over a decade until certain events last summer at the Summer Olympics in Paris, France, changed all of that.
While football has taken over as the sport I consume more than other, at my core is a failed high school flameout basketball player who once played two-on-two basketball after school on the ‘Iolani lower school basketball courts against Derrick Low and Bobby Nash and actually believed he was the best player out there.
I guess confidence counts for something, if not stupidity.
Watching Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sell the Seattle SuperSonics to snake oil salesman Clay Bennett, who from Day 1 planned to move the team to Oklahoma City, left a basketball hole in my heart that had never healed…
…until Paris.
That last SuperSonics season was the first for Kevin Durant in the NBA. Two years after playing in the ‘Iolani Classic with Montrose Christian, Durant was No. 35 in the green and gold, pulling up with that silky jumper that will always be the final memories of Key Arena before it went vacant and ultimately turned into a hockey arena, Climate Pledge Arena.
He has since become the greatest USA men’s basketball player of all time with four gold medals, and his signature moment came alongside LeBron James and Steph Curry in Paris, as the three oldest players on Team USA rallied to carry everyone else on the team to a gold medal that looked like it wouldn’t happen down 13 to Serbia and the best player in the world, Nikola Jokic, in the fourth quarter of the semifinals.
The reason I bring this up is Netflix last week released its six-episode documentary series on the international basketball competition in Paris called, “Court of Gold.”
It was an incredible in-depth, behind-the-scenes, all-access look at the best basketball tournament ever played.
As evident from the series and just from watching last summer, the world is coming for the United States. No, let me fix that. The world is already here.
It took four 3-pointers in the last 166 seconds from Curry to put host France to sleep in the final with maybe the greatest shot I’ve ever seen, considering the moment and the spotlight.
Two dribbles to his left, then a behind-the-back dribble the other way, one more to get the step back ready and then the shot, or more accurately the heave, over two defenders that rattled through the basket.
Even the hometown French crowd, who wanted so bad to dethrone the Americans, couldn’t get angry at that.
The Netflix documentary only further enhanced what was a truly memorable two weeks of basketball that for my money, is the highest level we’ve ever seen the game played at.
But it also provided a reminder that the future of United States basketball is murky at best.
What does it say that the Americans certainly wouldn’t have won gold, and potentially not even medaled, if Durant, Curry and James, and their combined age of 110 years old, didn’t text each other the summer before buying in for one more run?
Joel Embiid had his moments in the championship game against France, but as he has fought through another injury-riddled NBA season, he has even said that playing for Team USA last summer might not have been the best idea.
Jayson Tatum, fresh off of leading the Boston Celtics to a NBA title, seems to fit the mold as an impact player of the next generation, but he found himself logging multiple DNP’s in this last Olympics.
The last six NBA MVP’s are considered international players, although Embiid gained USA citizenship in 2022. He could have played for France last summer, which in hindsight, might have been the difference between which country won gold.
That MVP streak will likely continue this year with the race basically down to two international players. Jokic and OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is featured prominently in the Netflix documentary as the leader of Canada’s jump into the top levels of international competition.
The six episodes of “Court of Gold” run close to five hours. I started the first one and didn’t leave the couch until Victor Wembanyama said he’s worried for the opponents in a couple of years.
NBA or international?
“Everywhere,” he says.
He’s right.
The news of Wemby’s NBA season ending with a blood clot issue only days after the release of the documentary not withstanding, the 23-year-old Wembanyama had the same confidence as the 26-year-old Gilgeous-Alexander.
The world is not afraid of the United States in basketball. And with Curry, Durant and James about to hand over the league to the next generation, is anyone remaining ready to carry the torch all the way to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?
I’m not sure I see anybody who fits the mold. And that spells trouble for Team USA.
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Reach Billy Hull at bhull@staradvertiser.com.
