Basketball

A new world order emerged in the men's Olympic basketball tournament, one where US dominance in the sport the Americans invented is no longer a given.

A new world order emerged in the men's Olympic basketball tournament, one where US dominance in the sport the Americans invented is no longer a given.

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By sending NBA players to the Olympics in 1992, the league hoped to help the development of basketball around the globe.

That process reached its fruition in Athens with Argentina's gold medal victory over Italy on Saturday evening.

NBA Commissioner David Stern always said he thought the Americans would one day lose at the Olympics despite the NBA players. But he was always quick to add he hoped it would not happen "on my watch".

But Stern and other officials could only sit and watch as the Americans lost. Not once. Not twice. But three times before salvaging some pride with a bronze medal game victory.

The poor showing cannot only be explained by the fact that the US team had been weakened through a rash of withdrawals by first-choice players for a variety of reasons.