It's always a hot topic whenever Team USA, the supposed powerhouse of international basketball, fails to win a gold medal. But during the 2023 FIBA World Cup, they didn't just fail to claim first place, they also failed to take home any medal at all after they faltered in the face of adversity against Canada in the bronze-medal game. But as luck would have it, Team USA may be falling upwards, contrary to the perception of many given how big of a deal their FIBA World Cup shortcomings were that LeBron James was assembling his own version of the Redeem Team.

On Friday morning, FIBA released its updated world rankings that took into account teams' performances during the 2023 FIBA World Cup. And despite failing to nab a podium finish, Team USA still managed to reclaim the top spot, overtaking Spain, a team that finished ninth after failing to make it out of the second round of the recently-concluded tournament.

These rankings take into consideration nations' performance over the past eight years, and evidently, their gold medal finish during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics still weighs heavily in the FIBA World Ranking metrics.

Given how heavily these rankings take into account the 2023 FIBA World Cup performance, as evidenced by the meteoric rises of Germany, Latvia, and Canada, Team USA's ascent speaks more about Spain's inability to carry over their 2019 FIBA World Cup-winning performance four years later. That, of course, is understandable, as they did not have the services of Ricky Rubio and Marc Gasol, with the former even winning the FIBA World Cup MVP honors during that iteration of the competition.

Make no mistake about it, however, Team USA's display during the recently-concluded competition is concerning. This rise in the world rankings should not detract from that fact. Given how stacked their roster figures to be when the 2024 Summer Olympics rolls around in Paris, France, they're likely to stay at that position for the foreseeable future. The only question now is whether Team USA manages to break the cycle of underperformance in the FIBA World Cup, as it seems like they're just papering over the cracks as they call upon the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry to rescue them.