As expected, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid exited Paris with a gold medal around his neck this summer. Playing for Team USA, the roster full of NBA All-Stars was projected to win the Olympic tourney.
To no surprise, the gold medal victory for this year’s Team USA sparked the questions of whether that team could defeat previous gold medal-winning teams.
Recently, former 76ers center Dwight Howard weighed in on the debate of whether the 2024 Team USA roster could beat the 2008 roster he was a part of.
Unsurprisingly, Howard went with the team he competed with.
“I’m going with our team,” Howard said on ‘Gils Arena.’ “We got a prime Kobe [Bryant]. We got young [LeBron James]. We got the bald head D-Wade (Dwyane Wade). We was young. Talking about ‘Bron at 23? Me, I’m 22. Melo (Carmelo Anthony) at 24. Chris Bosh at 24?! Oh my god.”
The 2008 and 2024 squads achieved the same amount of success on their Olympic journey. They both won gold and did it without carrying a single loss. You could argue the 2008 run might’ve been considered more special, considering they were redeeming the 2004 squad’s bronze medal run.
That shouldn’t take away from the 2024 run, though. There were plenty of storylines for Team USA this summer, including it being likely the last dance for LeBron and the record-breaking Kevin Durant. Also, it was the first Olympic run for the sharpshooting superstar Stephen Curry.
2008 marked Howard’s lone appearance on the Olympic stage. At the time, the veteran center averaged 16 minutes on the court through eight games. He produced 11 points and six rebounds throughout the Redeem Team’s gold medal run.
If time could rewind, Howard would get a shot to go against Sixers center Joel Embiid in a battle for the better Team USA generation. In the dream scenario, Howard believes his team would send the 2024 squad to the silver medal slot.
