The U.S. men’s basketball team will play world champion Germany in an exhibition four days before the Paris Olympic Opening Ceremony.
The U.S. scheduled games against South Sudan on July 20 and Germany on July 22 at London’s O2 Arena.
At this past summer’s FIBA World Cup, Germany beat the U.S. 113-111 in the semifinals en route to its first world title. Germany was previously 0-8 against the U.S. in the Dream Team era (since 1992).
The U.S. finished fourth at the World Cup, losing three times at a global championship for the first time since the 2004 Athens Games. Its roster included zero players with prior Olympic or World Cup experience and none who made an All-NBA team.
The U.S. roster for the 2024 Paris Games is expected to look very different.
Kevin Durant, the U.S. scoring leader at the last three Olympics, already declared that he will play a fourth Olympics next year, several months before the team is expected to be named.
The German roster at the World Cup included NBA players Dennis Schröder, Daniel Theis and Franz and Moritz Wagner.
South Sudan, the world’s newest country (2011), qualified for the Paris Games as the top African nation at the FIBA World Cup. South Sudan was ranked 62nd in the world at the time, the lowest-ranked team to qualify for an Olympic men’s tournament since at least 2004, according to FIBA.
Retired NBA All-Star Luol Deng is president of South Sudan’s basketball federation. Former NBA player Royal Ivey is the head coach.
Before the exhibitions, the U.S. will have a training camp in Las Vegas, as it has done in past summers. Dates have not been announced.
