The Americans were intent on kicking down the door in Tokyo this summer, reclaiming their global dominance in men’s basketball after last year’s seventh-place finish at the World Cup by sending some of the NBA’s brightest stars to go win Olympic gold.
And then, on Tuesday, the Japanese government and Olympic organizers did what just about everyone expected them to do — postpone the Games in the wake of this deadly coronavirus pandemic.
That move, combined with the uncertainty of when the current NBA season will end, as well as the following one, seems likely to lead to fewer or no NBA players participating in the 2021 Summer Games. If Team USA wants to send a Redeem Team 2.0 to Tokyo, the redeeming of America’s basketball reputation on a global stage might have to be done by G Leaguers, college kids, Americans who play overseas and, maybe, some NBA players whose teams didn’t make the 16-team playoffs at home.
“I’ll cross that bridge when…
