Team USA has historically been a dominant team in the Olympics when it comes to men’s basketball. With a lot of NBA stars on the lineup, a gold medal was almost always a given for them.

Carmelo Anthony's Blunt Take On Why Olympics Was 'Easy' For Team USA Before - Athlon Sports

Now, though, things have changed. Team USA is still the favorite, but their path to the gold medal is much harder. Their tune-up performances against South Sudan and Germany prove that coasting to the top is not an option anymore.

In an appearance on Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala’s podcast, decorated Olympian Carmelo Anthony talked about why the past Olympics have felt “easy” for him. The first reason was that he had a stacked team back then.

“It was so … I don’t wanna say easy, but it was so easy!” Anthony said. “It was so easy for me… I got — CP3, Jason Kidd. I got Bron on this wing, Kobe on this wing — I got D-Wade coming off the bench. I got KD over here. I got Dwight Howard in the paint. I got Chris Bosh.”

USA forward Carmelo Anthony (15) shoots a free throw against Serbia in the men's gold game during the during the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 1.

USA forward Carmelo Anthony (15) shoots a free throw against Serbia in the men’s gold game during the during the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 1.

RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

The second reason he feels the past Olympics were easy is because of the talent pool today. There are more international players than ever, and that’s forced Team USA to bring their best 12 to Paris.

“International Players d–n near has taken over the league,” Melo noted. “So now we got to go put our Avengers together to go take on these other countries.”

Last season, the three finalists for NBA MVP were not born in America. Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Nikola Jokic all play for a different country. Foreign players are now dominating the league, and plenty more are thriving as role players.

As a result, the international basketball scene has flourished. Other countries are starting to catch up to Team USA. Even in the 2020 Olympics, other countries were able to make a dent in the NBA-heavy roster. France even handed the US a loss in group stages.

Team USA has assembled its best roster to date for this Olympics. They sent a mix of living legends and up-and-coming stars to Paris. It’s up to them to prove that the US is still on top of the basketball world.