As Team USA embarks on their FIBA World Cup journey, with their first recreation in opposition to New Zealand as we speak, the search for gold is in full swing. The Americans are wanting to redeem themselves after a disappointing Seventh-place end in 2019.
However, NBA legend Charles Barkley has a novel perspective on the matter. In an interview on The Ringer, Barkley expressed his perception that it could be useful for basketball’s world reputation if Team USA doesn’t safe the gold medal.
“They act like if we don’t win the gold medal it’s going to be the worst thing to ever happen to civilization,” Barkley mentioned, by way of ClutchPoints. “I actually disagree with that. I think it’d be great because I think it’d really help with popularity in one of these little 3rd-world countries if they won the gold medal. Can you imagine if France won the gold medal? How popular would basketball become in France?”
Interestingly, Barkley mentioned 3rd-world countries and then immediately gave France, the No. 5 team in FIBA rankings, as an example.
