🏅Team USA’s Preparing For Revenge

The NBA’s top stars want to return to Team USA ... and Team USA may not be able to win without them. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider: Team USA basketball may need all their stars in order to return to form ... Bartolo Colon brings the heat vs. children ... and WWE’s NXT makes a big leap to national television. According to Stephen Curry, he’s in. It sounds like Draymond Green is, too. Others will surely follow. That opportunity will come next summer at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where the U.S. will go in as an overwhelming favorite to reverse the disappointment of last week’s seventh-place finish at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The reason a fourth straight Olympic gold medal seems so likely is precisely because of comments from three-time NBA champions Curry and Green, as well as similar sentiments from their peers. Whereas the league’s best American players shunned this year’s World Cup, being part of a quasi-American basketball revival is a neat enough narrative to draw plenty of star power toward the 2020 Summer Games in Japan. “Definitely want to go,” [Curry said in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols](. “I've never been on the Olympic team. I've been on two World Cup championship gold medal teams. But the Olympics is the experience that I want. And next year will hopefully be it.” His teammate Green was more succinct [in an interview with CNBC]( saying, “I do hope to play, and I think a lot of guys will want to play.” A lot of guys will definitely want to play, and you can expect to hear more big names throwing their designer hats in the ring over the coming months. And if they do, gold medal guaranteed, right? The long legacy of American dominance, set to continue deep into the future. Maybe ... and maybe not. [STORY IMAGE 1] The basketball world is a very different place these days, vastly changed from 13 years ago, which was the last time the Americans lost in meaningful international competition — a sixth-place finish at the 2006 World Championships. The most discussed reason why things have changed is that the rest of the world has gotten seriously good. Good enough that defeats to France in the World Cup quarterfinal and Serbia in a consolation game were seen as surprises, but not monumental ones. The 2019 American team was without its truly elite talent; 31 of the 35 players who were on the Team USA roster last summer backed out of the World Cup. Yes, Team USA still had an All-Star in Kemba Walker, a rising star in Donovan Mitchell and a cast of solid NBA players to call upon — but without top-tier homegrown firepower, it wasn’t enough to overcome the stacked European teams. The talent gap has been closing for quite some time. As [Dan Woike of the]( [Los Angeles Times]( [pointed out]( in the wake of the tournament, many of the best players coming into the NBA these days are not necessarily Americans. Woike looked at NBA win shares (a stat that attempts to capture a player’s overall contribution to his team’s wins and losses) of players emerging from recent drafts and found that the past several years tell a significant story. The top three players from the 2013 draft were Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, France’s Rudy Gobert and New Zealand’s Steven Adams. From 2014, the top two have been Joel Embiid (Cameroon) and Nikola Jokic (Serbia). The top four from 2016 were all international: Ben Simmons (Australia), Jamal Murray (Canada), Buddy Hield (Bahamas) and Pascal Siakam (Cameroon). Even with the wealth of talent coming from abroad, an American team packed with the leading lights of the NBA, historically, should have little difficulty. But the modern nature of international basketball is more intricate than in the past. Put simply, the game is more team oriented. Building a team for the U.S. involves USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo persuading enough guys to give up their down time and a big chunk of the offseason. For international groups, it means building a cohesive unit and fostering national pride and team spirit over the course of several years — possibly through a tough qualifying campaign. “Basketball is the ultimate team game,” [Colangelo told]( [Sports Illustrated]( Chris Mannix]( [.]( “The more familiarity that players have with one another on the court, the better.” [STORY IMAGE 2] Of course, this all could be easier said than done. The main stumbling block for the Americans leading up to Tokyo is the risk-averse approach NBA players (and their agents) take to anything that could impinge upon future earnings — with Paul George’s horrific leg injury ahead of the 2014 World Cup serving as the ultimate red flag. Furthermore, the benefits of NBA “load management” are all too apparent. Last season, Kawhi Leonard was given plenty of time off during the regular season, then used that stockpiled energy to power the Toronto Raptors to the championship. “I wish all the best players would come, but it’s never going to happen,” [Gobert told the]( [New York Times]( Marc Stein]( [.]( “They think about themselves more than anything — and it’s understandable. It’s a business. We all have families to take care of.” And even as Curry and Green pledged their allegiance to the cause, there were caveats built into their statements of intent. “Knock on wood,” Curry said. “You don’t want any injuries or things like that to interfere.” Green said he understood why there were so many withdrawals this time, given the schedule and travel commitments required. “A long ways to China,” he said. It is a long way to Tokyo as well, both in terms of distance and timing. There are plenty of chances for the big names to opt in, and plenty of time for them to find reasons to opt out. Meanwhile, the rest of the world keeps getting better. [STORY IMAGE 3] Here’s what others have said ... Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated: “When the U.S. suits up its A-Team, it’s unbeatable. In 2016, the U.S. routed Serbia in the gold medal game by 30. The average margin of victory in that Olympic cycle: 22.5 points. In 2020, the schedule is ideal; the Olympics open in late July and conclude in early August. The chance to be part of another Redeem Team should be motivating.” Ben Golliver, Washington Post: “At the FIBA World Cup, the Spanish triumph and the American embarrassment boiled down to the same factor: commitment. To be clear, any excuses for skipping out on China proffered by American players could also have been applied to Spain’s prominent names. After all, the 34-year-old [Marc] Gasol played 79 regular season games, endured a midseason trade and logged 24 postseason starts for the NBA champion Raptors before signing on for Spain’s grueling summer slate, which included exhibitions in California and Europe before the trip to China.” Marilyn Dubinski, SB Nation: “Odds are there are no ‘solutions’ that need to be found between this summer and the next to ‘fix’ this squad because all the refreshed superstars who backed out this summer will be ready to compete for the gold medal that matters the most: the Olympic one.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - A Yastrzemski hit a home run at Fenway Park for the first time since 1983, and [Tyler Kepner at the]( [New York Times]( [captured all the feels](. - The benching of Eli coincides with the debut of a high school freshman named Arch. The Manning Football Dynasty is on hiatus — but it isn’t canceled, [writes Dan Wetzel at]( [Yahoo! Sports](. - A year ago, Vontae Davis quit the NFL mid-game. [Brendan Meyer at]( [ESPN]( [chronicles what happened next]( for the former Pro Bowl cornerback. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( It's been almost a year to the day since we've seen Bartolo Colon on the mound in the majors, but he isn't done racking up strikeouts. The 46-year-old, who hasn't officially retired, crashed a pickup game in the Dominican Republic and didn't hold back, claiming [at least]( two K victims per his Instagram footage. Oh, did we mention he was facing children? That's right ... "Big Sexy" brought the heat against opponents that probably weren't even born when he won his AL Cy Young Award in 2005. Don't ever change, Bartolo. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] San Francisco Giants at Boston Red Sox (MLB.tv, 7:10 p.m. ET) Both the Giants and the Red Sox’s Wild Card elimination numbers are down to three, and Tuesday night’s 15-inning affair proved neither team is going down without a fight. Seattle Sounders FC at FC Dallas (ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET) Western Conference MLS teams clash on Wednesday, and there could be a lot riding on this game for FC Dallas. They’re tied for seventh in the conference with the Portland Timbers (also in action tonight) and are hoping to leapfrog them and qualify for the playoffs. WWE NXT (USA Network, 8 p.m. ET) For the first time, WWE’s third brand will move to a live, two-hour format on television. For tonight’s inaugural episode, the first hour will air on USA and the second hour will follow on the WWE Network. Watch and see what all the hype is about. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Dallas (-21.5) & New England (-22.5) both to cover: +264 Ladies and gentlemen, we are headed toward a historic wagering weekend in pro football. According to our insights, only one game in the past 10 seasons has featured a three-touchdown favorite — Denver vs. Jacksonville in 2013. But this week, both Dallas and New England are favored by more than 21 points against Miami and Luke Falk’s New York squad, respectively. And these numbers could move even further, as over 70% of the wagers so far in Dallas-Miami are on Dak Prescott & Co. [WHAT THEY SAID] “I believe you’ve got to play together to have a chance to win.” — Tony Gwynn [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download the FOX Sports app for live scores and streaming [App Store]( [Google Play]( Available on: [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] Forwarded this message? [Sign up](. Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2019 FOX Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. FOX.com Business & Legal Affairs - Manager Digital Media P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900