The Team USA men's basketball team is getting closer to winning gold, and there are three Boston Celtics players that would have the honor of adding more gold to their collection after winning the 2024 NBA Finals. Celtics guard Payton Pritchard thinks that if the Celtics roster went to the Olympics, they could win gold against the other teams across the world.
Pritchard was a guest on the Point Forward Podcast, and he made a huge claim on what he thinks the Celtics could do in the Olympics.
“I would bet my money on it that we would. I’m not going to sit here and say oh it’s a done deal for sure because you got to go out and compete, but I think I’ll bet my money that we would win,” Pritchard said. “I feel like if you win an NBA Championship, go through a whole season like that, yeah we’d be alright.”
Pritchard is not the only person who believes that the Celtics could win a gold medal. ESPN's Brian Windhorst said earlier this week that he thought the Celtics had a chance to win.
“If the Boston Celtics were in this [Olympic] tournament, I think they'd have a very good chance to win it… I’m not going to back down from the Celtics calling themselves world champs and I don’t think they should either,” Windhorst said.
The Celtics have the talent to compete in the Olympics
This current Celtics roster has the talent to compete in the Olympics and possibly win a gold medal as well. Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White are on the current Team USA roster, and they've all had bright spots during the Paris Olympics run. Jaylen Brown could arguably be on the roster as well, but it's still not certain why Grant Hill did not consider him after Kawhi Leonard left.
That's already four of the Celtics' players, and the Olympics have already shown that you don't have to have a superstar team to win, but it's more about chemistry over anything else. The Celtics core have played together for years and they've won and lost together, which should be good for them going against teams that have played together for years as well.
Team USA struggled a little bit during their showcase, and it wasn't because of talent, but because of chemistry. Most of the players on the team have been the No. 1 options on their NBA team, and having to sacrifice and learn other players in such a short time affects how a game can be decided.
The Celtics wouldn't have that problem because they know each other and the roles that each of them plays. It would never happen, but it'd be interesting to see how NBA champion teams would fare in the Olympics.
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