Team USA has been the standard-bearer of international basketball ever since the Olympic Committee permitted professional players to play in the 1992 Barcelona games. That summer, arguably the greatest basketball team ever was assembled: the 1992 Dream Team composed of the likes of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and some other player named Michael Jordan.
After a disappointing finish in 2004, Team USA got back on track in 2008 in the Beijing Olympics, winning gold with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony leading the “Redeem Team” to glory.
Since Team USA Men's triumph in China, they would then go on an international rampage, winning all FIBA World Cups and Olympic Basketball tournaments from the 2010 FIBA World Cup to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This would come to a bitter end in the 2019 FIBA World Cup where a lackluster performance saw them place an embarrassing 5th place in the tournament.
A lot of all-time greats contributed to the massive success of Team USA in their dominant stretch. In this piece, we'll be ranking the five greatest players to have laced up for Team USA Men's Basketball in the past decade. As such, the list will cover all FIBA World Cups and Olympic Basketball tournaments to have been played from 2010 to 2019. The players' performance will strictly be based on these tournaments and will not take into account their NBA careers. Their respective statistics and individual awards will primarily be taken into account. Lastly, only senior tournaments will be covered by the list.
With that, let's get into Team USA's greatest stalwarts last decade.
5. James Harden
Statistics: 10.1 points, 1.8 rebounds rebounds, 2.1 assists
Achievements: Gold Medal, 2012 London Olympics; Championship, 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup
Starting us off is The Beard for his scoring exploits with Team USA.
James Harden took part in two out of five international tournaments in the past decade, in the back-to-back competitions of the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Naturally, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard was nowhere near the first option in the London tournament, with the great Kobe Bryant taking the starting role.
Harden, who was a last-minute call-up for Team USA back then, was limited to just 9.3 minutes a game and averaged 5.5 points in his small role.
Fast forward two years to the 2014 World Cup held in Spain: Harden was now Team USA's captain ball and was a bonafide superstar. He had an incredible tournament, leading the squad in scoring with 14.2 points per contest. He would score an international career-high of 23 points in the finals against Serbia to cap off a dominant tournament, wherein the USA won every single game by an average of 33 points.
An overall great two-year international run from the gifted scorer.
4. Klay Thompson
Statistics: 11.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists
Achievements: Champion, 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup; Gold Medal, 2016 Rio Olympics
The ever-reliable Klay Thompson just barely edged out James Harden in the rankings.
The sharpshooting guard laced up for Team USA in both the 2014 FIBA World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics, obviously winning both tournaments. He was consistently good in both, with stat lines of 13-2-2 in the 2014 World Cup and 10-3-2 in Rio. He obviously had a better tournament in 2014, wherein he led the US in scoring in their first outing against Finland, with 18 points on 70 percent shooting from the field. Thompson had another good outing in the quarterfinal against Slovenia, going off for 20 huge points on 7-of-12 shooting and 50 percent from three.
Klay would have his greatest international game against France two years later in Rio, shooting his way to a team-high 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Every point was crucial for the victory, as the US scraped a tight 100-97 victory over the Frenchmen. Thompson would come up huge again in the semifinals against a Spanish team led by the Gasol brothers, going 50 percent from the field and from three as he led the star-studded US once again in scoring with 22 points.
For his multiple huge contributions and his crucial 30 points against France, Thompson easily slots himself in fourth.
3. Carmelo Anthony
Statistics: 14.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists
Achievements: Gold Medal, 2012 London Olympics; Gold Medal, 2016 Rio Olympics
Carmelo Anthony is the most decorated Olympian in the history of Team USA Men's Basketball.
Melo was part of Team USA for four straight Olympics, winning three gold medals and one bronze. Two of those golds came in London and Rio wherein he put up 16-5-1 and 12-5-2 stat lines respectively. Anthony was undoubtedly one of Team USA's best scorers every time he stepped foot on the international stage.
As such, he has set several incredible Olympic records. He holds the US all-time single-game scoring record of 37 points on (also a record) 10 threes (both set in their ridiculous 83-point win against Nigeria in London). He is also the USA's top scorer in the Olympics, with his record of 336 points still standing.
There's a reason why the “Olympic Melo” alter ego exists. He had always been one of Team USA's greatest and most reliable scorers and was arguably the program's greatest-ever servant.
2. Kyrie Irving
Statistics: 11.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists
Achievements: Champion, MVP, All-Tournament Team Selection, 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup; Gold Medal, 2016 Rio Olympics
2014 and 2016 saw arguably the best of Uncle Drew on the international stage.
Despite being Australian-born, Irving has been one of the stars of Team USA in the 2014 FIBA World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics. He churned out highlight play after highlight play, from his ridiculous handles and finishing to perfectly placed lobs to Anthony Davis or Kenneth Faried. He put up stats lines of 12-3-4 and 11-3-5 in Spain and Rio respectively.
Irving was impressive every time he laced up for the States, but he was particularly special in several standout games. One was an 18-point, four-assist outing in the 2014 semifinals against Lithuania.
However, Kyrie's greatest outing for Team USA is, of course, his massive performance in the 2014 Final against Serbia. Irving went off for a game-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from 3-point land.
Uncle Drew barely edged out Melo by virtue of being more decorated for this decade, although no one can deny Anthony's greatness when taking into account his 14-year tenure for the States.
1. Kevin Durant
Statistics: 20.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists
Achievements: Champion, MVP, All-Tournament Selection, 2010 FIBA World Championships; Gold Medal, 2012 London Olympics; Gold Medal, 2016 Rio Olympics
Easily the best player to lace up f0r the stars and stripes in the 2010s. No other player suited up for Team USA in more tournaments in the previous decade than Kevin Durant; he turned out for Coach Mike Krzyzewski's unit for three out of five possible competitions.
Each time he did, he was almost always the best player on the court. He has never averaged less than 19 points per game in any tournament, with his international career-high of 22.8 points per game coming in the 2010 FIBA World Championships.
The number of times that he led Team USA in scoring would simply be too many to put here. There are two moments that cannot be left out, however: his 38-point outburst against Lithuania in the 2010 semifinals, and the championship-clinching 3o point, nine-rebound performance against Spain in the 2012 Olympics.
Not one single player comes close to Kevin Durant in terms of output and achievements for Team USA in the past decade. It is absolutely fitting that arguably the greatest scorer the game has ever seen takes top spot on this list.
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