Team USA's dominance could come to an end.
Richard Jefferson Predicts Team USA Will Not Win Gold at 2028 Los Angeles Olympics originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Led by some of the greatest basketball players to ever take the floor, the United States was able to win its fifth-straight gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On a team that was nicknamed the "Avengers," the Stars and Stripes had a roster consisting of four-time MVP LeBron James, two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and two-time MVP Steph Curry. Other NBA All-Stars such as Joel Embiid, Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker were also on the roster.
While it was arguably the most talented team since the iconic 1992 "Dream Team," they were pushed to the brink against both Serbia in the semifinals and France in the gold medal game.
An occurrence that has former NBA Champion, Richard Jefferson, convinced that the United States' dominance will come to an end at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as he revealed on his podcast "Road Trippin'.
"The U.S. will not win gold in Los Angeles, California," Jefferson said. "I said that the U.S. will not win gold in LA in three years...I'm not trying to piss people off. Did you see it took a Herculean effort for us...It took our greatest basketball players for us to beat a team that had one All-Star in Serbia and no All-Stars in France.
"So, for us to say without KD, without Steph, without LeBron, without Embiid, without the Avengers, we would not have won the gold medal."
With Durant, Curry and James all closer to retirement than playing in the next Olympics, Team USA will need to find its next group of core players. Whether or not the next generation is ready to carry the mantle is a question that can only be answered when 2028 rolls around.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
