CBS Sports' Sam Quinn has a panacea for the current problems facing Team USA coach Steve Kerr relating to his unpopular benching of Jayson Tatum during America's first Olympics matchup against Serbia: stop loading up future Team USA rosters with as many All-Star caliber talents as possible.
"I swear I think the message of this Jayson Tatum stuff is that Team USA should only bring six or seven All-Stars to future Olympics," Quinn wrote. "Guarantee minutes for a small group, then have a wider pool of specialists who understand that they may not play. This is a dumb news cycle."
The 2024 team has elements of that spirit; with Kerr deploying role players like Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Bam Adebayo instead of Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton, at least in Team USA's Olympics opener.
But would Team USA ever go for such a strategy?
Team USA more star-studded in 2024 than in 2016 or 2020
Yes. They would. Because they have before.
The 2020 team had JaVale McGee, Keldon Johnson, and Jerami Grant; players practically no one would call a star. Especially at the time. The 2016 team was a bit more star-studded, but DeAndre Jordan and Harrison Barnes are not quite household names either.
This year's team has guys like White and Holiday, but they're coming off a championship season and need to provide defense for a team with aging offensive dynamos who are no longer the defenders they once were. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry, the latter of whom was never an elite defender even in his prime, come to mind.
Building a roster with fewer egos is always a good idea, but Team USA is a major cash cow when all the stars are in tow. With the league filled with up-and-coming American talent, like Chet Holmgren, Cooper Flagg, Tyrese Maxey, Paolo Banchero, and Cade Cunningham, to name a few, expect plenty of stars in the year to come.