Lakers News: LA Hall Of Famer Weighs In On Team USA's FIBA Fail

An obvious disappointment.

After the US failed to medal at the FIBA World Cup this summer, many in the American basketball sphere chimed in their thoughts on seeing the team fall short of their justifiably lofty expectations given their history. 

One famous 1992 Olympics Dream Team member with purple and gold ties was especially disappointed to see that Team USA wouldn't even get the chance to earn a gold medal, let alone their eventual failure to earn any. 

That'd be Hall of Fame Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson, for those who are still wondering?

Just watched the USA Men’s basketball team play Germany in the FIBA World Cup and I was very disappointed we loss 111-113. Now instead of playing for Gold we will be playing for Bronze.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 8, 2023

Though he's become a bit of a joke on Twitter for always stating the obvious surrounding the sports world, Johnson's comments on this year's international roster rings true for many fans like him. 

Losing to Germany who were the eventual champions of the whole tourney, even Johnson's optimistic outlook couldn't be achieved as the Canadian team headlined by Dillon Brooks' 39 point effort sealed third place. 

Failure to get on the podium isn't a foreign concept to the Americans especially at the FIBA World Cup, but in an era of social media, scrutiny has never been this common. 

Even when rosters were announced and the usually star studded stars and stripes looked more like the JV squad to many, skeptics and critics alike still thought that Team USA's talent would win out. 

As it turns out, placing role players together and expecting them to simply fit in their roles off of a random rotation didn't pan out how the Americans thought it would and it left them without a spot on this year's podium. 

Though this loss could eventually usher in a new era of the biggest stars once again committing to international competition again a la 2008's famed Redeem Team, it won't take the sting away from fans like Johnson or this year's FIBA roster any less. 

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