Gregg Popovich opened Team USA training camp stressing the world is catching up to America’s post-1992 near monopoly over international basketball dominance. Jayson Tatum received an early preview during a seventh-place finish at the 2019 World Cup, still nothing compared to the historic blow America received Saturday, 90-87, against FIBA’s 22nd-ranked Nigeria in a Las Vegas exhibition.
Even considering the warmup backdrop, the US missing three important players in the NBA Finals and most of its players recently concluding grueling playoff runs — they were overwhelming favorites. Popovich courted the world’s best scorers in Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal and Tatum against middling NBA talent like Precious Achiuwa and Josh Okogie.