The Dream Team. The Redeem Team. The Avengers?
The greatest men’s hoops teams ever assembled — ones the United States has sent to the Olympics — have had the greatest nicknames. On paper, this men’s roster that USA Basketball is sending to Paris is the most talented squad assembled since the 1992 Dream Team, although the 2008 Redeem Team led by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James would have a case to make.
So what’s the nickname for the 2024 team? Have the players talked about it?
“We haven’t personally, but everybody’s been calling us ‘The Avengers,'” Bam Adebayo said. “I think we’ll have one after it’s all said and done.”
The idea for “The Avengers” started with four-time Olympian and member of the Redeem Team Carmelo Anthony, who discussed this roster in May on the Point Forward podcast featuring Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner.
“This team that they put together now, I honestly think ratings-wise — this is about the business of basketball — this would be like the ’92 Olympics. When Jordan and them all went to Barcelona. The hype that that had, I think this hype would be the hype for this Olympics. Because you got to think, to your point, the international game has grown. International players damn near have taken over the league, right?
SEE MORE: Basketball’s international growth makes road to gold much tougher for U.S. men
“So now we gotta go put our Avengers together to go take on these other countries.”
“Avengers” works — amazing, iconic heroes pool their individual talents, teaming up to form something greater than themselves.
Whether that nickname takes hold remains to be seen. Another could pop up — and if the U.S. can’t win gold, all bets are off. However, this nickname leaves one big question: If Team USA is the Avengers, then who is Thanos?
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.