LeBron James is leading Team USA in Paris for his fourth Olympics. In 2012, over a decade ago, he played his last Games, bidding farewell to the American team when everything was going smoothly.

Everything seemed fine with 'King' away until the humiliations in the last FIBA World Cups in 2019 and 2023 caused the stars to return to the American discipline in 2024, in an act of total patriotism. Curry and Durant also joined the ship, led by Captain LeBron.

However, we must go back to 2004, which was James’s first adventure in the Olympic journey, as a 19-year-old, inexperienced youngster. The start of basketball at those Athens Games doesn’t bring back good memories for that American constellation that had to settle for bronze.

That was the beginning of a tournament that marked a before and after between the United States and Puerto Rico. A cold war between the North American giant and a territory not fully incorporated into its jurisdiction. 

Going back to that moment, we must highlight two promising young players, Carlos Arroyo and Eddie Casiano, who carried the small Caribbean archipelago on their shoulders. Both, along with their entourage, handed the North American team a very tough defeat. The final score was as lopsided as it was painful, 92 to 73. It is one of the most significant glories in Puerto Rican sports.

In that American nightmare that lasted for more years, Freddy Krueger was the Puerto Rican team. Twenty years later, both countries will face each other to conclude the group stage. Since that tragic moment for Team USA, they have faced each other a total of 12 times with 11 victories for the North Americans. However, on Olympic grounds, the last victory belongs to the Puerto Ricans, as we mentioned, two decades ago.

Now, in the present, everything has changed radically. Coach Kerr’s ‘Avengers’ have such an overabundance of talent on their roster that they have been ‘discarding’ players in each game. For example, in the last match against South Sudan, Joel Embiid did not participate in the active rotation.

In contrast, the situation is very different for the Caribbeans, who, with more faith than results, have lost their first two games, making qualification practically impossible. But in terms of attitude, they have certainly tried. And much of the credit goes to their leaders: José Alvarado and Tremont Waters.

Ben Golliver, a specialist reporter for The Washington Post, said that Kerr had already planned the lineup to dispel the ghosts of Athens 2004. According to Golliver, the chosen starters for the opening tip-off would be: Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid.

For many, this is the most powerful starting five the United States can offer, as there are three NBA MVPs: LeBron, Curry, and Embiid. With Kevin Durant’s permission. Although Durant has been recovering before the Games and feels comfortable in the role of sixth man, he is arguably the second-best of this generation.

It’s no longer time to dwell on the past. The next battle for the United States in the group stage, against Puerto Rico, will be on 3 August. While Puerto Rico has not been able to secure a victory, the Stars and Stripes team has shone, but with signs of having more to give.

In the Parisian capital, it’s likely that the 2004 flashback won’t happen so easily. Team USA, dubbed the ‘Avengers,’ aims to, in a few decades, when youngsters like Edwards, Haliburton, Adebayo, and company have already written their own great history, be more accurately compared to the 1992 Dream Team. To this day, for many, the most exclusive and fascinating group in basketball history.

If they achieve their third consecutive victory, the United States will qualify for the knockout round as the group leader. Puerto Rico, on the other hand, would have to hope for a stroke of luck if they win, as with their 0-2 record, they have very few chances to proceed. However, the Puerto Rican spirit won’t wane, especially with the 2004 anecdote in mind.