NBA
ESPN’s JJ Redick calls out Brandon Ingram for failing to impress with Team USA: ‘He got exposed…’
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated12 Sep 2023
Right before the start of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Team USA were dubbed as the competition’s favorites. As they failed to bring back any medals in the past tournament in 2019, they built an elite coaching staff led by Steve Kerr to make sure they bring back the gold this time. However, once again they were left out of the podium and returned home without any accolades.
Having lost three out of their last four matches, the U.S. men’s basketball squad truly underperformed and have been heavily criticized by fans and experts this past week. ESPN’s JJ Redick addressed the condemning of these NBA athletes and called out one specific player who failed to impress.
The former athlete started out by comparing this roster to other Team USA’s from different decades, explaining how they were an unbeatable force back in the 90s, but world basketball has caught up and produced top-class talent.
It’s time to reframe the conversation around international competition.
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“When you go back to ’08, go back to ’12, bring up ’21, we have some of the greatest teams ever assembled in basketball in terms of talent and I believe to in terms of fit. Those teams won gold. Ask D. Wade if ’08 was easy. Ask CP if ’12 was easy. Ask Book if ’21— It’s not easy at this level to win gold,” he expressed on his own podcast.
As fans have taken their toxic blame too far, the analyst went on his “Old Man and the Three” show and defended the fact that these players deserve more respect. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but expose players like Brandon Ingram for their poor exhibitions.
“I think we need to reframe the entire conversation. But most importantly, we need to stop with the FIBA, NBA, this guy… ‘Oh, he’s got exposed.’ What the fuck? Fine. He got exposed in FIBA. It doesn’t mean Brandon Ingram isn’t an All-NBA type player,” Redick said.
The rest of the roster who represented the United States this summer included Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Austin Reaves, Mikal Bridges, Bobby Portis, Walker Kessler, Cam Johnson, Jaren Jackson Jr, Josh Hart, and Paolo Banchero.
Wolves legend Kevin Garnett was another who tried to explain his nation’s failure, and expressed that the times have changed and even the NBA is dominated by foreign stars.
“MVP… international player, NBA champs internationally led… Team USA not medaling..” Garnett said. “What’s to it.”
NBA insider Shams Charania reports that LeBron James will be leading Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics along with other NBA stars
Right after insider Shams Charania announced that a group of superstars led by LeBron James will represent the United States in next years Olympic Games in Paris, France, JJ Redick decided to list the players he wishes could make it.
Along with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, he desires Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, Paul George, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, and Anthony Davis. The analyst even went on to explore the possibility of naturalizing Joel Embiid.
Just this past week, FIBA ambassador Carmelo Anthony also suggested that Team USA should consider bringing back their NBA superstars to these kinds of tournaments, as they must compete with the ‘cream of the crop’.
“I would love to send the cream of the crop out there every year to compete at the highest level. But we have to respect those guys that are here too. Those guys are professional players. You can’t send the powerhouses every time. If we talk about the development, we’re developing those guys to be able to compete around the world. We take our losses with our wins, and we move on,” he assured.
