LeBron James Keeps Team USA Intact in Another Shaky Olympic Tune-Up

The U.S.'s narrow win in an exhibition against Germany has cast doubt on the team’s quest for a fifth straight gold medal.

LeBron James's dominant fourth quarter helped power Team USA past Germany. / Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

Officially, USA Basketball’s five-game exhibition tour was a success. 

Unofficially? Well … 

Officially the mighty Americans finished their three-country showcase 5–0, with a margin of victory of 10.2 points. 

Unofficially, two of those wins came by a total of 40 points, and the last two victories were decided by five. 

Officially, the U.S. will enter the Olympics as favorites to claim its fifth straight gold medal. 

Unofficially … is anyone ready to bet big on that?

On Sunday, USA Basketball concluded its series of scrimmages against Germany. If you were hoping for a palate cleanser after Saturday’s nearly catastrophic loss to South Sudan, you didn’t get it. The U.S. blew a 10-point first-quarter lead and trailed the Germans by a point with four minutes to play in the fourth quarter before LeBron James took over down the stretch and powered Team USA to a 92–88 win. 

What’s happened to the U.S.? What happened to the group that beat Canada by 14 and dominated Serbia by 26? This team is a few missed shots by James from entering the Olympics riding a two-game losing streak. 

“We can get a lot better,” said USA Basketball coach Steve Kerr.

It can’t get much worse. Against South Sudan—a whopping 43½ point underdog at tip-off—the U.S. went through the motions. South Sudan, which was officially recognized by the Olympic Committee in 2015, shot 47.5% from the floor and 42.4% from three-point range. The U.S. roster has 12 players, all of them All-Stars, NBA champions or both. South Sudan has four players who have appeared in an NBA game.

Germany, the reigning World Cup champion, is more seasoned. Dennis Schroder, Daniel Theis and Mo Wagner are NBA veterans. Franz Wagner is a budding star. Still, that’s a roster that would win single-digit games during an NBA season. That Germany can push arguably the most talented U.S. roster in history is wild. 

“We're getting to a place now where we're getting comfortable with rotations and I think guys are getting familiar with each other,” said Kerr. “I think we can tighten up our game and get better. And that's the plan here in the next couple of weeks.”

Turnovers have plagued the U.S. throughout these exhibitions. The team committed 14 (in a 40 minute game) against South Sudan. They committed another 14 against Germany. They shot 25% from three against South Sudan. Against Germany, they attempted 17 threes. The Germans got up 45. 

The offense has looked disjointed. It’s heavy on pick-and-rolls and post-ups, often relying on the talent of its stars to score in isolation. Joel Embiid, a celebrated addition to the U.S. roster, has struggled to find his role. Kerr has done what he can to install a system but there is only so much you can do to microwave chemistry. 

Embiid logged 15 points and eight rebounds in Team USA's win over Germany. / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

A healthy Kevin Durant will help, but will Team USA have a healthy Durant?  What began as a minor calf injury no one seemed worried about has become an injury that has kept Durant off the floor for all five exhibition games and everyone has to be concerned. The best-case scenario: Durant returns for group play Sunday having never played a minute with his current teammates. On Monday, Kerr said there were no plans to replace Durant on the roster. The U.S. can only hope to get the best version of him. 

“That's Kevin Durant,” said Jrue Holiday. “What are we talking about? That's KD. He needs to be out there.”

James, months shy of his 40th birthday, has been brilliant. He’s thrown down dunks, scored in transition and swatted away shots at the rim. His driving layup pushed the U.S. past South Sudan on Saturday. On Monday, he scored 20 points and was 8-of-11 from the field, singlehandedly muscling the United States past Germany. 

“He keeps leveling up,” said Stephen Curry. 

“We played with good tempo and then, yeah, somebody named LeBron James made some plays at the end,” said Germany coach Gordon Herbert.

James wants this. It was James who spearheaded the assembly of this veteran group, recruiting many of the stars to join the roster. While James is still playing at a high level, the state of the Los Angeles Lakers will make it difficult for him to compete for another NBA title. This Olympic gold could be his last chance to win a championship. 

“Every day is a good day for me,” said James. “I’m blessed to play the game that I love to play. I’m healthy, my family’s healthy so the game of basketball is extra credit for me.”

The talent gap between the U.S. and the Olympic field will be considerable, but players are different in international competition. Schroder, who has played for five NBA teams in the last three years, looks like an MVP in a German uniform. Evan Fournier, who couldn’t get off the New York Knicks’ bench the past two seasons, plays like Curry with France. There’s a passion foreign stars have for these tournaments that can’t be duplicated.

The U.S. will have to be sharp. Curry will have to make shots, Embiid will need to score in the paint, and Team USA’s collection of stars will have to limit its turnovers. They will have to be physical without fouling and match the intensity of their opponents. The U.S. has put together its most talented roster since the 1992 Dream Team. But the rest of the world is suiting up its starters, too.  

“For us, all these [exhibition] games have been real,” James said. “We don’t have much time to lose an opportunity to get better. We’ve only been together for a couple weeks now. Each one of these games was an opportunity for us to improve, and I think we did that.”