To no one’s surprise, the USA Men’s basketball team won Olympic gold for the fifth time in a row. Nothing to write about it would seem. But, despite the inevitable happening, the six games in Paris brought up two major questions. The first was partially posed by track star Noah Lyles: is the US’s dominance in basketball over? The second was posed by everyone: is this the greatest olympic team to ever grace the court?

Less than a year ago, Noah Lyles, then 100-meter world champion and now Olympic 100-meter champion, made headlines when he claimed that the NBA champions did not deserve to be crowned “world champions” by asking reporters, “[They’re] world champions of what? The United States?” Though this only made massive headlines on X, the US basketball community took note. Many players tweeted back at Lyles telling him to stay in his own lane, but clearly there was more to be settled. Selected by head coach Steve Kerr, a 12-man team was assembled to put Team US back on top after losing the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023.

And that they did, proving to the world that the talent in the rest of the world, even under favorable conditions, is simply not at the caliber of the US’. In my mind, there was never a debate about whether the NBA Champions would lose to the next best league, the Euro League champs. But while Noah Lyles may think the NBA team has to prove that, after this showing, there is simply no argument for him now. Even under non-NBA rules, which make a massive impact on offense and foul calling, the 12 men selected for the USA proved it makes no difference by handling the six teams they faced by an average of more than 17 points.

Speaking of the 12 men, It is hard to put into words how star-studded this roster of 12 players truly is. The best way pundits, announcers, and social media can describe them is “the basketball Avengers.” This praise reminded many of a past USA basketball Olympic team from 1992 known as the “Dream Team.” This team was considered to be the greatest to ever step on a court: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, these guys were legit. So, it’s easy to comprehend why so many old head coaches were mad when people started saying the 2024 Olympic roster was the best ever.

My take, unlike my other answer, is not so black and white. Yes, it is a cop-out answer, but the two teams are just different. The main difference is the emphasis on the three-point shot. Some may claim that this difference is all because the 2024 team are better shooters, but in the Dream Team’s era, a rule restricting defense in the key made post offense, layups, and mid-range shots more favorable. Even if the Dream Team had Stephen Curry to shoot the three, his shot attempts would be nowhere near as many as today. This difference makes it easy to say the modern team would win easily with their modern basketball, but if Jordan, Bird, Magic, et. al. were in today’s era with today’s rules, it is hard to argue they would not have adjusted.

While my answers and even the two questions themselves were distinct, they both get at where the future of basketball is going. Will European stars like Victor Wemmbenyama, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic take over? Will EuroLeague basketball come to reign supreme over the NBA? What does the next generation of USA basketball look like? How many more threes will they take in a game? All eyes will be on the coming NBA seasons, and, of course, Los Angeles 2028, where the next generation of stars will once again battle for Olympic Gold.