Shaq thinks Team USA might have won its last Olympic gold medal: 'These other countries, they're not playing'

Paris was no cakewalk

The United States has been the most dominant country in Olympic basketball, winning 17 men's Olympic basketball tournaments. The only games in which the Americans didn't win gold were 1972, when they won silver; 1988 and 2004, when they won bronze; and 1980, when they boycotted.

In the Dream Team era, the Americans have lost just one, and that was in Athens in 2004. However, USA Basketball has made adjustments in preparation, and since then, the USA has won the last five iterations of the games. The last one in Paris, however, was challenging.

As O'Neal said, winning the 2024 Olympic gold medal was no cakewalk. Their largest margin of victory was 35 against Brazil. That was right around Team USA's average winning margin in 2012. (32.1). The "Avengers" had to rally from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to beat Serbia in the semis and needed a Stephen Curry one-man-show in the closing minutes of the final to beat France by 11 points

The Trinity's Last Dance

However, dealing with improved competition is just one part of the story. The other, which is perhaps the more worrying one, is the fact that the Americans have likely seen the last of this generation's trinity in the Olympics. LeBron James is turning 40 next month, Kevin Durant is 36, and Steph is 34. Without the trio, Team USA won't have a megastar in 2028. This is a potential problem that was also recently expressed by Tracy McGrady.

"USA is in trouble in the next Olympics. I'm afraid gold might be going somewhere else," McGrady declared. "I love Ant's game. Who knows what Jayson Tatum's gonna do? So what Americans coming up? Paolo Banchero may be a guy that we could throw in there because he's a young, up-and-coming player. Cooper Flagg may be a guy, he'll probably be in his third year, entering his fourth year. I'm looking for guys that are on Steph Curry and KD and Bron's level, and I don't see that comin' up. We might struggle in the next Olympics."

The good thing for USA Basketball is that the Olympics are still four years away, so a lot can still happen. The current generation of NBA stars could rise to superstar status in the next few years. But as of right now, Americans like Shaq and T-Mac have genuine reasons to be worried.