National Basketball Association

USA Basketballs Jerry Colangelo: Other countries need to 'get their acts together'

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:12 p.m. ET

Aaron Torres

When Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski were put in charge of Team USA basketball following the disastrous 2004 Olympics, the two men were tasked with changing the entire culture of the program. Fast-forward 12 years and it’s safe to say “mission accomplished.” The U.S. just won its third straight Olympic gold medal with a solid, but not elite, group of players that didn’t include some of the biggest stars in the NBA like LeBron James or Steph Curry.

Still, what was a banner night for Team USA took somewhat of a surprising turn late Sunday, while, in the midst of celebrating the American’s gold medal, Colangelo called out the rest of the world for failing to keep up.

After an early Olympics in which the narrative was that the “talent gap” was closing across the world, the U.S. again proved it is still firmly the world’s best team in the medal rounds. And Colangelo let everyone know it in an interview with Yahoo Sports’ “The Vertical”:

From there, Colangelo didn’t hold back. He doubled-down on the comments, sharing a story from his time in Rio, where an official told him that Team USA should take it easy on its opponents.

Colangelo instead offered a different alternative: How about everyone else step up?

Safe to say that these comments are a bit shocking from Colangelo, who is by all accounts a normally mild-mannered guy. His quotes are especially shocking when looking at the broader picture of the state of the international game as well.

While the U.S. did run away with the gold medal, it isn’t as though Team USA wasn't challenged in the tournament. Australia played with the U.S. until the final minutes of a preliminary-round game with the Americans (before losing by 10), and the U.S. won its next two games by a combined six points.

It feels like the international game is producing more stars than ever. Beyond the stars like Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, young players like Rudy Gobert and Kristaps Porzingis have emerged over the past few years. And oh by the way, the past four No. 1 picks in the draft have all played on international teams, with Andrew Wiggins (Canada) and Karl-Anthony Towns (who has Dominican descent) emerging as stars in Minnesota. Australian Ben Simmons could be next in Philly after going No. 1 overall this year. Buddy Hield (Bahamas) and Jamal Murray (Canada) also went in the top 10 as well.

Still, Colangelo has a point.

It’d be one thing if the U.S. had won by the margins of victory it did late in the tournament while trotting out its best players, but that was far from the case in Rio. Many of the league’s biggest stars didn’t play due to injuries or other concerns. Can you imagine if this team had James, Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin on it, instead of some of the players who ultimately made the team?

Either way, they’re interesting comments from Colangelo, and further proof that the old saying “History is written by the victors” is 100 percent correct.

Team USA basketball has another gold medal under its belt. And those who were part of it can say whatever they want.