Suns Legend: It's Gold or Bust for Team USA

Charles Barkley believes the U.S. should win every gold medal in Olympic play.

Jun 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; NBA TV analyst Charles Barkley talks on set before game three of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- One of the greatest players in the history of the Phoenix Suns has spoke on his expectations for Team USA as they suit up for a knockout stage date with Brazil in mere hours.

Charles Barkley took to Paul George's "Podcast P" show to dole out the belief that the U.S. should never lose out on winning the top honor in any Olympic cycle - and joked about what the ultimate ramifications should be if they were to drop the shot at a gold - via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

“Listen, if they lose, we can’t let them back in the country,” Barkley said. “We can’t. I’ll tell them. You can’t come back.”

The U.S. come into the matchup with Brazil as massive favorites and will continue to be heavily favored in contests if they continue to advance.

Barkley, who won two gold medals for the U.S. in 1992 and 1996, did acknowledge the increasingly impressive uptick in talent around the world, but ultimately still believes that America should reign supreme every four years.

“Have the international teams gotten better, 100%,” Barkley said. “They still not better than the United States. You take away Joker and Giannis and Luka. All three guys are great, great players. Shai is great also, but we still got the next 10 best players in every game.

“Ain’t nobody bringing anybody off the bench better than Jayson Tatum. Ain’t nobody bringing anybody off the bench better than Kevin Durant," Barkley explained, expanding on the overall roster talent gaps despite many countries possessing better top-end talent than ever before.

”The international teams have gotten better, but there’s never an excuse for the United States not to win the gold medal. We got the best team, we’ve got the best players by far.”

This is certainly an argument with much merit, as Tyrese Haliburton is an all-NBA level talent that has received sparse playing time thus far in group play - he would be a virtual lock to be a starting player if he were to represent any other country.

As for what we've already seen - Team USA has looked much more impressive in Olympic play compared to the exhibition phase, winning the three group contests by an average of 21.3 points per contest - and much of that has had to do with the contributions of the pair of current Suns stars.

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant have both been vital pieces to the squad. Booker has started all but one game for the team over the last month, while Durant has taken on a sixth-man role and has been a ridiculously efficient scorer on low volume.

If the U.S. is to win today, they will be guaranteed to at least have a shot at the bronze medal - and a semifinal date with Serbia would be set for Thursday.