Here's how to make Olympic men's basketball more competitive
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On Sunday Team USA steamrolled its way to a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball in a domineering 96-66 win over Serbia that was ultimately more inevitable than spectacular. And while no one would suggest for a moment that the men’s team’s gold medal triumph was anything less than deserved, there was something underwhelming about it all this time around.
The significance of a gold medal is obviously nothing that should be questioned. But with the U.S. having dominated Serbia in every conceivable way, and generally having dominated men’s Olympic basketball in general since the 1989 ruling that allowed NBA players to take part in the Games, one question some may be asking is, “How can we make Olympic basketball fun again?”
After all, Superman comics are only fun when the Man of Steel faces a supervillain. And watching the likes of Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Kyrie Irving dominate Serbia was about as thrilling as watching Superman foil a liquor store stick-up.
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The lack of interest in what was once a showpiece Olympic event was clearly evident from the number of empty seats at the venue Sunday.
So how then can we put the fun back into men’s Olympic basketball, a once exciting spectacle that has been increasingly losing its luster since the dizzying spectacle of the 1992 Dream Team?
The answer might be a simple one.
What if Olympic men’s basketball followed the same format as Olympic men’s soccer?
Unlike the World Cup, which pits teams comprised of the best players of every participating nation against one another, soccer in the Olympics is a kind of variation on a U-23 tournament.
Players on men’s soccer teams in the Olympics must be 23 or younger, with three over-age players allowed per team. Hence while we get the chance to see a lot of youth players and emerging talents we might not otherwise get to see, we are still treated to the performances of a few select marquee names like Brazil’s Neymar, Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel who plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League and Mexico striker Oribe Peralta of Liga MX powerhouse Club America.
Not only does soccer’s Olympic format provide an opportunity for younger players, it makes the competition less predictable. Yes, in Rio we saw two of the game’s traditional powers, Germany and Brazil reach the final, which the host nation went on to win.
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But along the way we were treated to a tournament filled with unexpected twists. Defending gold medalists Mexico and traditional South American powerhouse Argentina were both knocked out in the first round. Meanwhile, Honduras and Nigeria, two teams respectively ranked 84th and 67th by FIFA, contested the bronze medal match. Nigeria won.
Changing the basketball to a format like the soccer one could be a good way to shake things up. It might not result in every team playing the best against the best of every other team, but it could make the competition less predictable and, potentially, a lot more fun.
If Olympic basketball followed soccer’s format, it would also still allow fans the opportunity to watch some of the big NBA stars from the USA and abroad. But perhaps above all, it could make the USA winning gold year after year less of a foregone conclusion. Which would make victories like Sunday’s gold medal triumph over Serbia that much sweeter when they did come along.
