DONGGUAN, China - Sometimes the worst insult can be apathy.
Wednesday night, when France beat Team USA, some French players had tears in their eyes and star Rudy Gobert said he'd fulfilled a lifelong dream. Thursday night, when Serbia jumped out to a 25-point lead in the first quarter and beat the Americans, 94-89, for the first time ever, avenging a 30-point loss in the gold-medal game in 2016, there was ... nothing.
No emotion. The Serbian players just walked off the floor.
It's true the game had no material stakes. Team USA had already qualified for the Olympics and Serbia couldn't qualify and was just playing for pride.