SINGAPORE (Singapore) - United States fought off a massive challenge to beat Serbia and then France to win the 2024 Olympic gold medal - the country's fifth straight Olympic title. But 2000 gold medalist Tim Hardaway had a strong message to his compatriots: "USA should be worried."
Hardaway watched the Paris Olympics closely and saw the increasing trend in world basketball and the former NBA superstar believes USA can forget about just showing up at the Olympics and taking the top step of the podium.
Don't think it's going to be a cakewalk anymore
"We won okay, but I think whoever is going to be on that (next) team, they should have some concerns. Don't think it's going to be a cakewalk anymore. You're not going to have LeBron (James). You're not going to have Steph Curry. You're going to have to really come play. European teams are coming. They're coming. They're coming hard. France understands. Serbia understands how they lost, why they lost. They are coming. We should be concerned USA, yes, we should be concerned," said Hardaway, who played for USA Basketball one summer and claimed the title in Sydney.
Hardaway experienced that tension first hand at the 2000 Olympics when USA only narrowly escaped defeat in the Semi-Finals with Antonio McDyess snatching the offensive rebound after a missed free throw and putting it back in with 25 seconds to go in an 85-83 victory.
"There was only one goal in mind and that was to win the gold medal. We had some bumps and bruises there. With Lithuania. If Antonio McDyess doesn't put that ball back in … ooh wee. Ooh wee," Hardaway says with a wink. "But you only have to win by one point. And that's all that matters. Everybody thinks that the USA team has to win by 30, 40, 50 points. Just one point, you win, game over."
Hardaway, who averaged 5.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists at the 2000 Olympics, knew that USA should not take Lithuania lightly. After all, he had played for five years with one of the country’s biggest legends, Sarunas Marciulionis, at the Golden States Warriors.
"Lithuania had some good basketball players that played in the NBA already. So we knew it was going to be tough. We knew they weren't scared. We knew that they were going to play us hard. But we still expected to win,” he remembered.
USA built a 12-point halftime lead but Lithuania charged back into the game with Sarunas Jasikievicius' incredible three-point barrage.
"But when you get closer and closer and you're not pulling away and the game is nip and tuck, then you have to revert to: Alright we know it's going to be a dogfight, now we have to stand our ground as a team. We have to pick it up on defense. We know that we can make plays on the offensive end. But we need to stop them from making shots. We need to rebound the basketball and we have to revert to USA let's-honker-down-and-play-some-really-good defense and rebound the basketball now," Hardaway said.
Without McDyess getting that rebound, we probably would have lost that game - Hardaway about 2000 Semi-Final againt Lithuania
"But saying that, without McDyess getting that rebound and putting it back in we might have been in trouble. (Laughs) When I say we would have been in trouble, I mean we probably would have lost that game. That's why I say trouble."
Hardaway says he was supposed to be on the USA team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 1994 and the 1996 Olympics, but he was hurt. Still, it was a special moment for him to play in Sydney.
"I'm proud and happy I was able to play on a team with good chemistry, good basketball players, good friends. We won and that was it. I'm happy for that."
Hardaway also talked about one of the most amazing dunks in basketball history - Vince Carter jumping of French 7-foot-2 center Frederic Weis in the final game of group play.
"It happened right in front of our bench. When he jumped over that guy, we looked at each other and we were like … well, damn, he jumped over the guy. We really didn't get it until like five seconds later. It was like in slow motion. We didn't react until 5 seconds later and it was like Wow. Okay. It was amazing," Hardaway said.
"It was a great dunk and that propelled his career - Vince Carter's career - and I am sorry for my man Fred. That kind of hurt his career."
Though Weis did play basketball until 2011.
When asked if he had ever seen a better dunk in his life, Hardaway said: "Jumping over a 7-footer? No. We've seen some dunks by Dominique Wilkins, some by Clyde Drexler, some by Michael Jordan. Jump over somebody. We never had seen somebody jump over somebody for a dunk."
Something else that Hardaway has never seen - just like the basketball world - is what Victor Wembanyama is doing. And the 13-year NBA star, who was named as an NBA All-Star five times, said he was wrong on the French star.
"I didn't think Wemby was gonna come on this fast. He has a lot of confidence in himself. He has a lot of fortitude that he wants to go out there and be better. From last summer to right now, I was wrong," Hardaway admitted.
"I think he's exceeding what San Antonio would have had him at this time of his career. He learned a lot over the 82 games (of his rookie NBA season). That showed during the Olympics and what he can do. And he sees what other accolades that he can get. And I think he's really going to go after Defensive Player of the Year. And he's active. He can get it.
"What he was doing out there on the offensive end, he's coming. At 7-5, ooh wee. What he can do and how he can do it. It's gonna be fun to watch his development this next year. If he stays healthy it's gonna be must-see TV. Like I said, I was wrong. Sorry."
With the likes of Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Wembanyama taking the basketball world by storm, Hardaway thinks USA Basketball and their stars should consider themselves forewarned.
FIBA