NBA great Muggsy Bogues talks to the media during his second visit to the country for the NBA 3x Philippines. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Team USA has always enjoyed top-notch talent when it played in the Fiba Basketball World Cup and the high caliber rosters were usually the gold standard for any tournament.
The roster that won the gold medal in the 2014 Fiba Basketball World Cup had a plethora of stars that included 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry, and James Harden.
Curry won his two MVPs in 2015 and 2016 while Harden took his in 2018, proving that Team USA always had the talent but the American squad that will play in 2019 in China won’t have the same intimidation factor.
NBA All-Stars like Anthony Davis, Harden, Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, Kevin Love, and fringe stars Tobias Harris and CJ McCollum have withdrawn from their commitments.
Muggsy Bogues, who played for the 1986 gold medal-winning team, he said that this era is different from the time he carried the American flag.
The Charlotte Hornets legend represented USA in Spain while he was still a collegiate player for Wake Forest and didn’t have the same workload as the professionals of the current period.
“It’s different today, it’s all about professionals and there are no collegiate players that participate,” said Bogues during the media availability for the NBA 3X Philippines Wednesday at Conrad Manila.
“A lot of guys have played many times for USA so l get some of the guys feel like they’ve already done it. They’ve been there and done it already.”
NBA players were first allowed to participate in international competition during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when then Fiba secretary general Boris Stanković changed the governing body’s rules that granted the Dream Team the permission to play in the Summer Games.
After Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird led Team USA to the gold medal in 1992, it opened the gates for NBA All-Stars to represent the Americans in the Olympics, Fiba Americas, and Fiba World Cup.
Bogues, though, hopes Team USA will still send the best available players in China in August in hopes of getting the country’s sixth gold medal.
“Hopefully they will continue to send the right guys over to keep representing the country at the highest level and come back with the gold medal,” said Bogues who teamed up with San Antonio Spurs legend David Robinson and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
“It was awesome as a collegiate player and having the opportunity to represent your country and go out and display your talent. That time it was just collegiate players playing against pros from other countries and we were blessed to win a gold medal in Madrid.”