2021 Olympics Fan Guide: Everything you need to know about basketball

Olympic basketball has long been about the rest of the world trying to keep up with Team USA. The 2021 Olympics could present a twist.

The Olympic basketball tournaments kick off on July 25 and July 26 and Team USA will once again be heavily favored on both the men’s and women’s sides. But ravaged rosters and recent high-profile losses for both teams add some intrigue as the 2021 Olympics prepare to start.

2021 Olympics: Basketball rivalries

On both the men’s and women’s sides, the biggest rivalry in Olympic basketball is Team USA against the world. The men’s has won three Gold Medals in a row and six of the last seven, since professional players were first allowed to join the national team. The women’s team has won the last six straight Gold Medals, with 1992 in Barcelona as the last team that failed to win it all. In fact, the women haven’t even lost a single game in Olympic competition since 1992.

And it’s not just about medals, it’s outright dominance. In Rio in 2016, the women won their eight games by an average of 37.3 points per game. The men’s wins were only slightly less lopsided, coming by an average of 22.5 points per game.

But things are looking a little shakier this year.

The men are playing without several top players including LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis, who all opted out in the interests of health. Bradley Beal was supposed to be a key scorer on this year’s team but he’s already been ruled out and replaced after entering health and safety protocols. And Zach LaVine just entered the protocols as well, although it’s not clear if he could eventually rejoin the team at some point. The men’s team has also dropped warm-up games against both Australia and Nigeria in the past two weeks, perhaps creating a crisis of confidence. Typical contenders like Spain and Argentina have aged quite a bit but it seems like there is an opening for someone else to knock the men’s team off their perch.

The women’s team isn’t quite as shorthanded as the men but they’re without Team USA mainstays like Elena Delle Donne and they also dropped a warm-up game, against Australia. The gap between them and the rest of the world is a bit wider but this may not be the year for 35-point blowouts.

2021 Olympics: Basketball records in jeopardy

The 2004 meltdown for the men’s national team is a resume-blemish that the women just don’t have. As mentioned above, they’ve won 48 consecutive games in Olympic competition and their six consecutive Gold Medals are tied for the second-longest active Gold-Medal-streak by any team in any event. There’s a good chance the U.S. women still cruise through the competition and remain unbeaten but that Australia loss looms large and makes their unbeaten streak look just a bit more fragile.

2021 Olympics: The Olympic spirit lives in basketball

One of the most exciting things about Olympic basketball is the opportunity to see familiar faces blossom on international teams, with the opportunity to work against top-level competition but in different roles. Nico Mannion couldn’t crack the Golden State Warriors’ rotation as a rookie last year but he’s been an offensive engine for the Italian team, averaging 17.7 points and 4.0 assists per game on a 64.5 true shooting percentage in qualifying play. Guerschon Yabusele‘s joyful chaos wasn’t enough to keep him on the Celtics’ roster two years ago but he’s become a key starter and key contributor for the French national team. Ezi Magbegor averaged just four field-goal attempts per game for the loaded Seattle Storm, but was instrumental in Australia’s upset of the US women last week, scoring 17 points. The Olympics are an opportunity for the athletes you don’t know to have a moment in the spotlight and basketball is no exception.