Where was Shaq? Where was Paul Pierce? There is absolutely NO excuse except injury. The USA should send their BEST players, no exception. 'A' list players that decline should be sanctioned by the League.

Lame excuse. You could have sent quality centers, forwards, points, and 2-guard perimeter shooters from the collegiate level who would have brought home the gold. Not to mention, they would have been more coachable than the prima-donna NBA stars that were sent over there.

THE most obvious reason.

Certainly this was a factor. The addition of Garnett, Kobe, Shaq, etc, would probably have been too much for any international team to handle. However, this doesn't change the fact that our approach to international basketball needs to change if we want to stay on top.

This is a big reason!Mcgrady,O'neil,Kidd!If the U.S. would have had a true point man and 1 or 2 perimeter shooters they would have taken the gold.