Every four years we get the world's greatest athletes in one place to compete for dominance of their respective sport. Many try, many fail, and there is only one person or persons that sit atop of the podium in ultimate victory. One sport that has been particularly dominated by Team USA, is basketball. If you are a sports fan and specifically a basketball fan, you have to be excited about USA Basketball. If you are not excited, I understand why. You are one of the many who are complacent. You are used to winning. You are used to gold medals. You are in a comfort zone, where you expect nothing less than victory and expect the American national anthem to be played. But, let me take you back to a time where you were not comfortable, where the …show more content…
For an Olympic Gold, you represent your country. You can cheapen your way to an NBA Championship, make a super team, a superstar can get injured or have to overcome silly suspensions. For a gold medal, there is no way to do that, either you win or lose and that's all that matters. There is no money to play for in the Olympics, and sometimes money is a great cushion to fall back on if you don't win an NBA Championship. But some things are worth more than money, pride. The American pride will not allow us to lose. Anything less than gold is considered a loss when it comes to USA Basketball. After recent close victories, I can almost guarantee that Jerry Colangelo has his finger hovering over the panic button and is willing to “Break Glass If Necessary, Alarm Will Sound” on Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard. We can't afford the embarrassment of a loss. A necessary star power is needed to almost guarantee gold, and whether not we win gold, I believe we will see some revamping in the next Summer Olympics. Our pride will not let that happen. You can say all you want about it “not meaning anything” but those same people will be the first to shout disappointment if it's not gold that is brought