USA basketball team lost an Olympics match for the first time since 2004 against France on Sunday. The team, led by NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, was beaten 83-76 by the French team, which had NBA players like Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier.
Durant scored just 10 points in the first-round game. Fournier, on the other hand, was sensational for France, top-scoring with 28 points.
“I tried to be aggressive. As an NBA player I know the players we were facing. We had to show the team how to attack them,” Fournier said.
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Following the USA’s defeat, several fans took to social media to express their disappointment.
“USA’s Men’s Basketball just lost in the Olympics for the first time since 2004 and honestly they were beat by a better team. the days of just showing up and running pickup and having the other team ask for pictures after getting waxed by 40 is over,” one person tweeted.
“Put your NBA teams aside, put your personal rivalries and vendettas aside, focus on the team effort; you’re all representing the same country. Get. It. Together,” another person wrote.
“Team USA basketball needs to wake up & find its heart or they aren’t winning gold,” another Twitter user commented.
“Dismal, dreadful and disappointing performance by USA basketball team in first Olympic loss since 2004. Played with no fire, no intensity, no passion and no sense of urgency. And we need the best players on the American squad. No excuse for this,” wrote another user.
Utah Jazz centre Gobert played down the French victory.
“I mean it’s great, but until we have what we want to have around our neck, it doesn’t really matter. Every single guy that came in the game brought us something. It’s really the team that we want to be and it’s exciting for the rest of the tournament,” Gobert said.
The USA team will face Iran in their next game on Wednesday when France will take on host nation Japan.