The FIBA world cup’s much awaited conclusion is here. Despite being the absolute favorites to win gold this year, Germany disqualified the United States in the semi-finals this year. Seems like the era of the dominance of Team US at the international stage might be nearing its end. Head Coach Steve Kerr made a rather agonizing appeal in his post-game interview which was reposted by Shaquille O’Neal on his Instagram.

The famed Dream Team is often considered the greatest international basketball team of all time. Even the Redeem Team of the 2000s won the Olympic gold medal. However, the current team USA is yet to reach those heights.

Following a close loss to Germany, Coach Kerr states a painful fact

Golden State Warriors HC Steve Kerr was appointed Head Coach of Team USA for this year’s FIBA World Cup. Even the four-time championship winning coach wasn’t able to turn things around as team USA bowed out of the gold medal contention. Germany beat USA by a margin of two points. After the disappointing outcome, Kerr gave an interesting point of view on the loss.

Michael Jordan‘s former teammate turned head coach spoke about the improving level of international play.

“The game has been globalized over the past thirty years or so. These games are difficult. This is not 1992 anymore. Players are better. All over the world. Teams are better. It’s not easy to win a world cup or an Olympic games.”

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The clip was reposted by Shaquille O’Neal on his social media handle. O’Neal is a FIBA Hall of Famer and won it all once in 1994. He also boasts an Olympic gold medal with the US in 1996.

The seven-feet-tall star endorsed Kerr’s view that the world has caught up with Team USA in the game of basketball.

However, fans think that with Big Diesel on their side, Team USA could still dominate the international competition.

Team USA homecoming for Shaquille O’Neal?

Shaquille O’Neal has won his fair share of international tournaments.

He shared the disappointing news of team USA’s loss in a rather humorous fashion. Shaq posted the final scorecard of the game and captioned the snap, “dam gina” which is a way of saying ‘damn girl.’

A fan beneath the post suggested that Shaq might be making a return to the court.

He commented, “Shaq coming out of retirement to help his nation.” It would be patriotic to see The Big Aristotle assume his responsibilities in the paint once more.

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