Steve Kerr offered a response on Friday after his Team USA lost 113-111 to Germany in the semifinals of the FIBA World Cup.
Kerr is the coach of Team USA, which went 5-2 in the event, losing to Lithuania in pool play and then Germany in the knockout round. The US will face Canada in the third-place game on Sunday.
The finish for the US will be a disappointment, as they enter international events expected to win. Kerr said after the game that the result is another indication that the rest of the world is catching up to the US.
"These games are difficult. This is not 1992 anymore. Players are better all over the world, teams are better and it's not easy to win a World Cup or an Olympic game."
Steve Kerr on the rest of the world catching up with the USA
(via @GIGANTESbasket)pic.twitter.com/uMek67VEDa
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 8, 2023
“The game has been globalized over the last 30 years or so,” Kerr said. “These games are difficult. This is not 1992 anymore. Players are better all over the world. Teams are better. And it’s not easy to win a World Cup or an Olympic games.”
A big part of the issue is that the US historically has not put as much stock into winning the World Cup as the Olympics. This year’s team did not feature the best American players in the world. Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant were not part of the team (the former two have not competed for Team USA in over a decade). And the teams that beat the US squad were more physical in the middle. But let’s also consider that Serbia has reached the finals of the event despite not having the country’s best player (Nikola Jokic) participating. Only three of their players are current NBA players, yet they beat a Canada team that is full of good NBA players.
The international gap has closed, but the US is still expected to win the big events.
