The FIBA World Cup 2023 is all set to begin on 25 August. In the last tournament, Team USA finished in a disappointing 7th place. This was the team’s worst record ever. So this year, the team is looking to bounce back and finish strongly. The national team started the preparation on the right foot with an impressive outing in the tune-up game against Puerto Rico. Notably, hours before the game, an analyst talked about the concern of Shaquille O’Neal and another NBA legend about the team.

For the first time in history, multiple nations will host the tournament this year namely the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. Ahead of the start of the tournament, national teams are gearing up with friendlies.

Analyst talked about the concern of Shaquille O’Neal

Team USA registered an impressive 117-74 win against Puerto Rico. While the massive 43-point win looks great in hindsight, there could be a problem. Recently, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas called the national team “a sorry a** group” according to The Sports Rush. He apparently took a shot after reports of the team losing scrimmages came out and also because of the lack of superstars in the lineup. He recently also claimed Trae Young was snubbed because of a major brand.

Notably, Shaquille O’Neal reportedly shared Arenas’ view about the poor lineup via his Instagram stories. A basketball analyst recently talked about the NBA legends’ concerns during a recent episode of his DREAMERSPRO podcast. He touched on the losses of the main team in scrimmages. Then, he compared the current team’s lineup with lineups from 2012 to 2018. He was not happy with the lack of big names on this team.

The host stated, “But this current crop of NBA players are like, ‘Nah man, I can’t be bothered with that. First of all, how much y’all going to be paying us? Like, you want me to put forth an effort? Is there gonna be any money involved? Like, y’all gotta convince me. Y’all really want me to go out there and compete for this? Really? Y’all want me to be a part of this? Like, come on man, I can’t be a part of this. I’m too fly for this.'”

He was clearly unimpressed and ripped apart the superstars, who were not ready to represent the country. He also said that the current stars only care about making money and do not care about the game. Interestingly, a lot of fans agreed with his takes in the comments. However, it will be interesting to see how the team performs in the World Cup.

The win impressed LeBron James

Anthony Edwards and Cam Johnson led Team USA in scoring with 15 points each in the win as per NBA’s official website. Other stars like Mikal Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jalen Brunson, and so forth also had a major impact as well.

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The game was held in Las Vegas and the fans showed up in numbers. Notably, Austin Reaves had a warm welcome when he came in and immediately hit a 3-pointer to start his tally. Even superstar LeBron James was impressed with Reaves and gave his teammate a shout-out.

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