USA’s biggest basketball rivals

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Basketball is currently the second most popular sport in the world, with team USA being the undisputed leaders. However, USA’s dominance has faced a growing challenge in recent years. The EuroBasket, which has returned after 5 years, has demonstrated the diverse talent in Europe. Here are the most credible challengers to USA’s dominance in international basketball:

1) France: France are the biggest threat to USA and had almost beat them at the gold medal game in the Tokyo Olympics of 2021. After a silver medal win in Europe, they are also expected to showcase new talent in upcoming tournaments. Moreover, several top players in the NBA are French, including Joel Embiid, who is currently the leading scorer in NBA, Victor Wembayana and Rudy Gobert.

2) Canada: Basketball is catching up with hockey as Canada’s leading sport and boasts of some of NBA’s biggest stars including Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Andrew Wiggins, and RJ Barrett. In fact, the NBA currently has 21 players of Canadian origin, and together with Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, could soon dethrone USA.

3) Slovenia: Winners of the 2017 EuroBasket, and semi-finalists at Tokyo 2021, Slovenia has emerged as a serious basketball team despite their small population. Breakout star Luka Doncic has proved to be a one-man team who has guided Slovenia to a win over France at the Eurobasket

4) Spain: The Spanish team have just emerged as winners of the EuroBasket after defeating France. Moreover, the title was won in the absence of famed players like the Gasol brothers, and Ricky Rubio, who was key in Spain’s victory at the FIBA World Cup in 2019. While it may be a while before Spain can challenge USA for good, they are a force to watch out for and can contend with any team.

5) Greece: The presence of Giannis Antetokounmpo makes Greece a team that any opponent should be wary of. However, this alone has not been enough to guarantee competitive performances from the team. Hence, while the explosive talent of Antetokounmpo, they need to develop the rest of their squad to present a challenge for USA.