Six-packs weren’t a requirement to qualify for the first-ever breaking competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But having one would certainly be beneficial.

For breakers, the key is the core.

In a sport that requires balance, twists, suspensions, freezes and holds, with moves that have names such as windmills and headspins, the center of the human body is the engine.

‘I just do a bunch of random core workouts,’ said Victor Montalvo, aka B-boy Victor.

The more common core exercises Montalvo does are leg raises, ‘a lot of’ crunches and toe touches.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

‘There’s also other core workouts that I don’t know the name of, but I just do,’ he said. ‘My coach gives them to me and I’m like, ‘All right, this looks hard. Let me try.”

Jeffrey Louis, B-boy Jeffro, said that targeting the lower core toward the hip flexors – areas not hit by the traditional crunch – is essential. 

‘Nobody’s really exercising that lower abdomen area,’ he said. ‘For breaking, we use that stuff a lot.’

Always passionate about fitness and nutrition, Louis created a program called ‘FitBreak’ that infuses breaking and traditional exercises.

‘So that I’m able to break and work out those muscles that I activate when I’m breaking but in a less impactful way,’ he said, ‘so I’m not beating up my body.’

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To be technically sound and pull off the most complex of moves, the athletes need a high level of mobility and strength in the shoulders as well.

Louis trains that by practicing vertical reaches, ‘Y-T’ shoulder movements (making the shape of those letters with his arms) and ’90-90.’ Most of these are bodyweight exercises, although he does throw in some weights.

Sunny Choi, B-girl Sunny, said she sees a strength coach multiple times per week and goes to a massage therapist.

Montalvo took up Muay Thai a couple years ago mostly because he was simply interested in the martial arts form. Because of the general brutality of combat-sport training, it helped his stamina. 

But he works out a lot anyway so that way he doesn’t have to monitor his diet too closely – a goal to which many humans aspire. 

‘I work out a lot. I run, I train, so I’m active 24/7,’ he said. ‘It’s a lifestyle. So for me, I can overeat if I want and I can be pretty flexible.’

PARIS — The term GOAT is so often tossed around in sports. Not always carelessly, but frequently enough that it’s diminished the original meaning behind the greatest of all time acronym. 

But in some instances, GOAT truly applies, and few would disagree that Michael Phelps deserves the label. GOAT swimmer. GOAT Olympian. In my opinion, only Simone Biles rivals him as the GOAT athlete. 

So the media and swimming world at large need to stop declaring the latest rockstar swimmer as “the next Michael Phelps.” There will never be another — at least not in the lifetime of anyone reading this. 

Five Olympics. An astounding 28 medals, with 23 of them gold. The most decorated Olympian of all time. An unprecedented eight golds in one Olympic Games, and 39 total broken world records. 

But the swimming world is too quick to throw that stamp on any swimmer who shows tremendous promise or who dominates an international event, and it’s simply unfair to both Phelps and the swimmers with that moniker attached to them. 

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Over the years, especially since Phelps retired following the 2016 Rio Games, many have been deemed “the next Michael Phelps.” At one point, it was American Caeleb Dressel. At the Paris Olympics, it’s France’s Léon Marchand. 

“I remember kind of laughing about it,” Dressel, an ambassador for Toyota, told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “It being an honor that I would even be in the same sentence [as Phelps], but also knowing deep down … that has never been my goal in the sport.” 

Dressel, 27, just finished his third Olympic Games and increased his medal count to 10: nine gold, one silver. That’s exceptional. That’s unquestionably superstar level. 

However, there’s a huge difference between a superstar and “the next Michael Phelps,” and Dressel agreed, calling Phelps “not even a once-in-a-lifetime” swimmer but “maybe once in a, I don’t know, end-of-the-world type guy.”

With a dominant Paris Games, Marchand — the 22-year-old star who nearly brought down Paris La Défense Arena every time he walked on the pool deck — is the latest swimmer to be deemed “the next Michael Phelps.” Given Marchand’s stunning versatility, it’s easy to see how some made that leap. 

After breaking Phelps’ last-standing individual world record in the 400-meter individual medley last summer, Marchand won Olympic gold in the event. He also won gold in the 200 IM, 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke, plus bronze in the men’s medley relay. The latter two individual events, whose finals were on the same night, highlight Marchand’s versatility because it’s quite rare to excel at both butterfly and breaststroke. 

Even Phelps on NBC described it as “probably the greatest double I’ve ever seen in the history of the sport.” He’s right; it was remarkable. 

But with five medals, four gold, in two Olympics, Marchand is still so far from Phelps’ orbit. Though it certainly helps that the former Arizona State swimmer trains with Phelps’ longtime coach, Bob Bowman, following him around the U.S. to different programs, just like Phelps did. 

“[Marchand] can be better,” Bowman said after the 400 IM final. “He’s not reached his potential.”

Phelps: ‘Records are made to be broken’

After Phelps’ second Olympics in 2004, he was 19 years old with eight medals, six gold, and was four years away from his earth-shattering eight Olympic golds in eight races, which broke famed swimmer Mark Spitz’s record seven. 

“If there is [another Michael Phelps], I know what the work is that it’s going to take to do that, especially in this day and age where people are just really focusing on one singular event,” Phelps said Monday. 

“Everyone thought what I was trying to do was impossible. … Records are made to be broken. The records that I was chasing throughout my career motivated me, so hopefully I can motivate somebody to do the same thing.”

Marchand has indisputable talent and is clearly able to dedicate himself to the ungodly hours of training and endless sacrifices. He’ll be 26 when L.A. 2028 rolls around, and maybe he’ll add even more events to the six he swam in Paris. 

That would be incredible, and hopefully Marchand continues dominating. It’d be great for the sport. 

But to even have a chance at catching Phelps, Marchand would have to keep grinding for years and avoid injuries. He’d also likely need to remain mentally strong in a sport that can be isolating, especially when you’re at the top and especially after the Olympics. 

The world is getting better

At the 2012 London Games, Phelps was far from his best, in a dark place mentally and “hated” swimming. He still won four Olympic golds and two silvers.

And let’s not forget about Phelps’ truly unique physical characteristics that helped make his many records and medals possible. At 6-foot-4, his disproportionate body fueled his hydrodynamics, including his long torso and irregular wingspan. His reportedly double-jointed chest and ankles aided his kick. Perhaps most important for a wild succession of Olympic races, his body supposedly produces half the lactic acid of a typical athlete, an extraordinary assist in recovery. 

He’s literally built different and even won a couple races he had no business winning.

As many swimmers, including Phelps, noted this week following an underwhelming performance from Team USA’s men — by American standards — the rest of the world is catching up. The sport is growing and becoming more competitive globally, making another Phelps even less likely. 

“The longer I’m in the sport, the more Games I’ve gone to, the more impressive it’s gotten,” Dressel said. “Every single Games, to be on it that well and to be that dominant from 2000 until 2016, I can’t even fathom that.”

He added: “It’s exciting for people to read, but we will never see another Michael … especially with how much more competitive the sport has gotten.”

Marchand could get there, and it would be spectacular if he did. But there’s a reason why Phelps is the actual GOAT, the true best of the best, the all-time most decorated Olympian. What he achieved was more than exceptional; it was almost supernatural. 

Those of us who saw it live should be grateful because as unparalleled as it was, it’s just as unlikely we’ll ever see it again. There are and will be plenty of swimming superstars, but there is no next Michael Phelps.

The hopes and dreams of the Chicago Bears and their passionate fanbase ride on rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

Thematically, the first episode of ‘Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears’ is presented as the dawn of a new era for pro football in the Windy City. The first scene comes from the 2024 NFL draft, with Williams entering the picture as a much-hyped, generational prospect capable of turning around a team’s fortunes.

No pressure, kid.

But, Williams is a rookie and will go through growing pains. How he responds will help determine if he reaches his potential.

‘Hard Knocks’ presents Williams’ camp so far in a way that suggests it hasn’t been all sunshine and daisies. There’s a montage of errant throws from Williams, and dropped passes.

All things Bears: Latest Chicago Bears news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

‘These mistakes, these good and bad days that I’m having, I know it’s how you respond and react to those frustrating times is when you grow and get better,’ Williams said.

‘You have to go through hard to be good. Caleb’s learning that skill set,’ Bears head coach Matt Eberflus adds.

Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, was a lock to go to Chicago ever since the Bears clinched the No. 1 overall selection in the 2024 draft by virtue of what might go down as one of the worst trades (or best, as far as the Bears are concerned) in NFL history.

For the Bears, Williams represents more than just an uber-talented quarterback. This is a franchise that has been almost impossibly inept at the most important position in the game.

The Bears are the only NFL team to never have a quarterback throw for 4,000 or more yards in a single season or for 30 or more touchdowns (Erik Kramer has come the closest at 3,838 yards and 29 TDs, and that came nearly three decades ago during the 1995 season). Contrast that with their ancient archrivals to the North, the Green Bay Packers, who have had a total of 18 4,000-yard passing seasons produced by five different quarterbacks (a list that includes Hall of Famer Brett Favre, to-be Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, the ‘Majik Man’ Don Majkowski and Lynn Dickey). In his first season as a full-time starter, Jordan Love threw for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns, statistical milestones never achieved in the 105-year history of the Bears franchise.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have the most 4,000-plus passing yardage seasons with 14 apiece. During the timeframe (1998-2022) of their combined careers, the Bears have used four first-round picks on quarterbacks (Justin Fields, 2022; Mitchell Trubisky, 2017; Rex Grossman, 2003; Cade McNown, 1999).

The bar is real low for Williams to set some new Bears team rookie records (2,194 passing yards: Trubisky, 2017; 11 passing touchdowns: Charlie O’Rourke, 1942 … 1942! The forward pass was barely a thing then).

Williams can be the guy to break through the franchise’s poor history at the position (Hall of Famer Sid Luckman notwithstanding). But first, the tricky part, developing the young passer while he also handles the responsibilities as QB1.

Here to help is college football coaching icon Nick Saban, who drops by to meet with Eberflus, who played linebacker at Toledo, where Saban was head coach in 1990.

It’s quite a luxury to have Saban — winner of seven college football national championships — as a consultant, and he offers sage advice to Eberflus about handling the talented Williams and the predictions of greatness for the rookie quarterback.

‘Here’s my theory on why NFL quarterbacks fail at such a dramatic rate. To me, expectations are a killer,’ Saban says. ‘This kid you got, this kid’s got so much media, so much hype, so much expectation on doing well. And he has to develop so quickly to meet the expectations that everybody has for him. It’s almost impossible.’

Eberflus interjects: ‘Because there is a development phase to this. The first year is rookie, (then the) second year and it’s the third year they got it once they’re in our system.’

‘I think that’s the biggest thing you got to worry about with your quarterback, because the expectations are a killer, but yet, to use your word, development is the key for him,’ Saban responds. ‘You know, like Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions when he was a rookie … But it didn’t affect him, just like the scoreboard. Scoreboard don’t mean anything until the game’s over.’

Williams’ progression through training camp and toward the 2024 NFL season will be fascinating to watch in this edition of ‘Hard Knocks.’

HARD KNOCKS: 19 most memorable moments through the years

Here is more of what we learned during the first episode of ”Hard Knocks: Training camp with the Chicago Bears’:

An offseason of change

The 2024 NFL offseason champion Chicago Bears were extremely busy overhauling the roster with a new-look team.

Eight picks after Williams was selected, the Bears drafted Washington WR Rome Odunze, a blue-chip receiver to add to a corps that also included Keenan Allen — who was acquired in a mid-March trade — and DJ Moore — who arrived in that aforementioned lopsided trade with the Carolina Panthers and also just received a lucrative contract extension.

Running back D’Andre Swift (formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles) and tight end Gerald Everett (formerly of the Los Angeles Chargers) were added to the offense, while safety Kevin Byard (formerly of the Eagles) was added to the defense.

There also was an off-the-field addition … Eberflus’ beard. After going some time without shaving, his wife, Kelly, encouraged him to go with the beard.

Jonathan Owens: To Paris and back

The Bears excusing Jonathan Owens — another offseason addition to the team — from camp to watch wife Simone Biles compete in gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics wasn’t new information. However, cameras did follow Owens as he got ready to leave for Paris, and then after he returned to watch Biles’ final Olympic events from home.

‘You going to Paris? That’s big, bro,’ Bears teammate Adrian Colbert said. ‘That’s the Super Bowl. That’s going to be a beautiful experience.’

Owens was shown — along with the couple’s three dogs Lilo, Rambo and Zeus — on FaceTime with Biles before leaving Chicago. Later, he described what goes through his mind when Biles — the gymnastics G.O.A.T. — goes through her routines.

‘I like floor (exercise) because you get to see how powerful she is. I try to remember her routines,’ Owens said while driving off to the airport. ‘I’m just sitting there watching her, especially when she’s on (balance) beam, and like ‘oh my gosh!’ Beam trips me out. I’m like, ‘babe, there’s no way you all are doing flips and just landing on it, blind landings, all this type of stuff’ and I’m just watching like … but I really, really love to support her at the Olympics. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’

‘Hard Knocks’ managed to sneak in some footage of Owens watching from home as Biles competed in the balance beam and floor exercise competitions on Monday.

Biles fell during the balance beam competition, but rebounded to win silver in the floor exercise.

‘At least she gets to bounce back on floor … she always does best when she gets mad,’ Owens said after the balance beam fall.

Growing number of NFL docs

It seems like just a week ago when we had a fresh season of ‘Hard Knocks’ on HBO to binge.

The training camp/preseason edition of the NFL Films/HBO Sports docuseries featuring the Bears follows the first offseason edition of the show, which featured the New York Giants.

If you like football and documentaries, then what’s going on in that realm as far as the NFL is concerned is ambitious. The in-season edition of ‘Hard Knocks’ will return later this fall when cameras will follow the entire AFC North. That’s three ‘Hard Knocks’ series over the course of six months. On top of that, Netflix has ‘Quarterback’ and ‘Receiver’ out there for your streaming needs.

So, who’s ready for some football?

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Duane Thomas, a former running back who helped the Dallas Cowboys win their first Super Bowl, has died, the team confirmed to numerous outlets on Tuesday. He was 77.

No cause of death was immediately reported.

Playing in 11 games, 10 as a starter, in the 1971 season, Thomas rushed for 793 yards and a league-leading 11 touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 153 yards and two scores.

Thomas added a combined 205 yards and three touchdowns in the 1971 postseason, including 95 yards and a score as Dallas stifled the Miami Dolphins 24-3 in Super Bowl VI.

Thomas was also known for periods of disgruntlement that saw him traded to two teams, but he never reported to them. He wanted his contract restructured after his rookie season in 1970, when he rushed for 803 yards. He added 313 yards over the Cowboys’ postseason run to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Baltimore Colts, 16-13.

All things Cowboys: Latest Dallas Cowboys news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

The Cowboys tried to deal him to the New England Patriots before the 1971 season, but he refused to report. The commissioner voided the deal, leaving Thomas with the Cowboys. He rarely spoke to teammates or the media, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Thomas ‘Hollywood’ Henderson told the Morning News on Tuesday: ‘I slept six feet from him and he didn’t have much to say. He was a peaceful man.’

After the 1971 season, Dallas worked out a trade with the San Diego Chargers, but Thomas again refused to comply, and he sat out the 1972 season. He did report when he was dealt to the Washington Redskins, for whom he played in 1973-74, amassing a combined 442 yards and five touchdowns on 127 rushes.

The Chicago White Sox snapped their 21-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 5-1 win against the Athletics in Oakland, ending a stretch of futility that had tied an American League record.

On pace for the most losses in Major League Baseball history, the 2024 White Sox became just the third team to lose 21 games in a row, equaling the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the AL mark, but falling two losses short of the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies’ 23-game losing streak.

Rookie starter Jonathan Cannon picked up the streak-breaking win for the White Sox, giving up one earned run with five strikeouts in six innings. Outfielder Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run home run in Chicago’s first victory since July 10.

Chicago’s losing streak dated back to the first half, dropping its last four before the All-Star break. The team scored just 49 total runs in the 21 losses, a skid that may very well have cleared the path for these White Sox to eclipse the 1962 New York Mets’ record 120 defeats.

‘Any time you win it’s great. Anytime you win when you lose 21 in a row it’s even better,’ manager Pedro Grifol told reporters. ‘I’m proud of these guys. They kept going, they just keep coming to the ballpark every day to play hard and they care for each other.

Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.

‘It was kind of cool to watch these guys for nine innings pull for each other.’

Longest losing streaks in MLB history

1. 1961 Philadelphia Phillies – 23

t-2. 2024 Chicago White Sox – 21

t-2. 1988 Baltimore Orioles – 21

t-4. 1969 Montreal Expos – 20

t-4. 1943 Philadelphia Athletics – 20

t-4. 1916 Philadelphia Athletics – 20

t-4. 1906 Boston Americans – 20

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PARIS — The only relevant issue that remains unresolved in the week-long brouhaha around Algerian boxer Imane Khelif is whether she will go home with a gold medal Friday night.

Every other player in this story has had their say, and so now it’s time for a full accounting of where everybody stands.

The Algerian people? They’re with Khelif. They showed up by the thousands for her semifinal bout Tuesday night. They roared to the rafters when she entered the ring against Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng, and they shook their green-and-white flags when she landed a right-handed blow in the third round that put an exclamation point on her victory.

The International Boxing Association? After shaking up these Olympics with accusations that Khelif failed a “sex test” at its 2023 world championships, the IBA’s clownish news conference here Monday served only to make its leadership – and particularly its Russian leader Umar Kremlev – look incompetent, vindictive and corrupt. Any relevance the IBA had in the world of amateur boxing has been pushed further to the fringes.

The International Olympic Committee? It’s been steadfast in refusing to give the IBA and its accusations even a millimeter of credibility as they pertain to what is happening with these Olympics. Khelif was eligible to compete here under IOC rules, any IBA testing is irrelevant to that reality, and backtracking on that in any way would open a Pandora’s box to an Olympics where women are being hauled into doctor’s offices because their competitors think they look too much like a man.

The online rage mob? They thought, when Khelif connected with a vicious punch to her first-round opponent’s face, that they finally had the thing they’ve been warning about: A man pretending to be a woman inflicting physical harm to a real woman in a sporting event. When it became clear that every bit of evidence in Khelif’s life and backstory points to her being born a woman, they shifted their obsession to chromosomes and hormones. Five minutes after these Olympics end, they will forget about Khelif and assuredly move on to something else.

And Khelif? As difficult emotionally as the last few days likely have been, she appears to have moved on, too. This time, there was no crying. She celebrated her Tuesday victory with smiles and fist pumps. She stopped in the media zone and answered a few questions in Arabic. Though the translations were a bit sketchy, she purportedly said that she did not care about the controversy. The net effect of all this, regardless of whether she wins gold or silver, is that she is going to return as one of the most famous and beloved athletes in the Arab world.

“I am very happy,” she said, according to the official transcript. “I’ve worked eight years for these Olympics, and I am very proud of this moment. I would like to thank the support from people back home.”

And that’s going to be where the story ends.

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In 2028, boxing is either going to be cut from the Olympics or a new federation like World Boxing is going to be in charge. To the extent that any of the people making these politically-motivated attacks on Khelif will care or remember, there will be some interest in whether the new governing body institutes some rules on women with differences in sex development (DSDs) and establish thresholds on testosterone levels that would allow them to compete.

That’s a debate World Boxing or some other organization will have to have, and it will undoubtedly face immense pressure to do so given the dialogue around Khelif.  

To be clear, we do not know whether Khelif or any other boxer in this tournament has a DSD, and it’s unfair to assume so based on how she looks or how she fights. One of the most disheartening things about this entire story is how many people are making full-throated assumptions about a person and a topic they don’t know much about.

For instance, a promotional video that shows Khelif in some intense training sessions started popping up on social media the last couple days with comments from people saying that it proves she’s a man. No, it proves she’s a boxer.

She trains the way a boxer trains. She looks the way a boxer looks. She is in a sport where people hit each other in the head. If you took 15 minutes to watch other fights, there is not any visual difference in the way she fights as opposed to her peers.

That’s why, until now, Khelif was not considered some overwhelming force in the welterweight division. She was just a pretty good and improving boxer who lost a whole bunch of fights before the wins started to come. There wasn’t any controversy around her participation until last year when the IBA disqualified her from its world championships.

About that: At its news conference Monday, the IBA was asked repeatedly about the circumstances of those tests. It offered no answers that made any sense. At one point, Kremlev ranted in Russian and got so spun up that he said Khelif had the testosterone levels of a man. But the IBA’s own statement last week said that Khelif wasn’t tested for testosterone but rather a “separate and recognized test.”

The IBA also claims that it tested Khelif the first time in 2022 on the basis of other coaches and boxers complaining about her, but that the result was inconclusive.

It begs two questions: Why did the Kremlin-backed IBA wait 10 months to test her again and let her enter the next world championships, only to disqualify her with no due process after she had beaten a previously unbeaten Russian boxer named Azalia Amineva? If the IBA wanted to be taken seriously as a credible source, it should have had an answer to both of those issues. It didn’t.

A lot of people who have gotten interested in this story have then asked, OK, so if there was some question about the Russian tests, why not re-test under the IOC?

The reason is simple: The IOC either has a process, or it has chaos. When an Olympic cycle begins, every athlete in every sport knows the rules to qualify. Whether you think it’s right or wrong, and regardless of whether it might change in the future, this particular kind of testing was not necessary for Khelif to be eligible for the Paris Olympics.

To change that policy on the fly, or to single out an athlete because some organization that is irrelevant to the Olympics dropped a lab report on its doorstep, would have far-reaching unintended consequences. If the IOC allowed that, it would be inviting challenges to all kinds of athletes on all kinds of illegitimate grounds who find themselves having to prove things about themselves that have never before been in question as they try to qualify for an Olympics.

The IOC doesn’t merely have a moral imperative to stand behind Khelif in these circumstances, it has a duty to protect its process.

And that’s basically that. The saga with Khelif has reached a dead end. There are some questions we’ll never get answers to, and the people who are still convinced she’s a man will never see it another way.

But on Friday, after all this, Khelif has a chance to leave Paris as a gold medal winner and a superstar who won’t have to answer any more questions about this witch hunt for the rest of her life.

Follow Dan Wolken on social media @DanWolken

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PARIS – If the United States is about to relinquish its stranglehold on Olympic men’s basketball this week, they’ve nicely hidden the plot twist.

The Americans messed around a bit before they got here, but thus far in these Paris Games, they’ve been about business. The U.S. has won four games by an average margin of nearly 25 points, including Tuesday night’s 122-87 drubbing of poor Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Maybe another team still in this tournament has a chance to make it interesting (looking at you, France) and give the Americans a game. Difficult to expect it’ll be Serbia in the semifinals. Not when they’ve played already, and Serbia lost 110-84 in pool play. Serbia, at least, does have Nikola Jokic.

Brazil had no chance. No Oscar Schmidt out there in green and gold.

There was a LeBron James in a U.S. uniform, though. And a Steph Curry. And a Kevin Durant, too.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Watching this U.S. team at full force inspires nostalgia for simpler NBA times, back in the days you knew before the season started that Golden State and Cleveland were going to be in the Finals. It also keeps a thought in the back of your mind: This is an end more than a beginning.

“It’s a blessing and it’s an honor to be able to still compete at this level and represent Team USA,” James said Tuesday night, “especially at the later stages of my career.”

LeBron is 39. Steph is 36. Durant is 35.

These Olympics in Paris have long carried that last-ride-together feel for a special generation of American hoops legends. Sooner than later, USA Basketball is going to have to figure out what’s next.

Or, more appropriately, who is next?

Of the eight quarterfinalists playing Tuesday in Paris, Serbia (27.7 years) had the youngest roster. Canada (28.1) and France (28.3) were next. The oldest was the United States (30.2).

Only five members of Team USA are under 30: Anthony Edwards (23), Tyrese Haliburton (24), Jayson Tatum (26), Bam Adebayo (27) and Devin Booker (27). Among them and a few other big names that aren’t here, there’s a lack of clear succession for national team stardom.

I’m not talking about good players. There are plenty of good young American players in the NBA.

But start naming potentially great ones under 30.

Edwards. OK. Who else?

Ja Morant? Maybe. If he wants to be. Tatum? Booker? Jalen Brunson? Haliburton? Jaylen Brown? Donovan Mitchell? De’Aaron Fox? Someone else?

Put another way: Who in that above paragraph would you prefer long-term over France’s Victor Wembanyama, the unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year?

It’s not that we’re approaching a new age in which the brightest men’s basketball stars are no longer from the United States. We’re already there. Five of the last six NBA MVPs went to Jokic (Serbia) or Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece). Prior to that, seven different Americans won 11 MVPs in a row.

Each year, you see the growing impact of basketball globalization in the NBA draft. Not a bad thing, by the way, but it does foretell a future in which the U.S. men will be respected internationally, but no longer feared. They won’t show up at Olympic quarterfinals having already won before the game begins.

That’s not the uniforms. It’s the aura and the presence and the names: LeBron, Steph, Durant.

“No matter what the score was at the end of the game,” Curry said Tuesday, “it was very hard to win. We might make it look easy, but it’s really, really difficult.”

Meanwhile, the NBA’s top four MVP vote-getters after this past season: Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), Luka Doncic (Slovenia) and Antetokounmpo. Fifth-place was an American – Brunson – who was snubbed for this U.S. Olympic team. If he wasn’t good enough to make it this time, would he be trusted to lead it in four years in Los Angeles?

That 2028 U.S. team will be good. It’ll probably favored to win a gold medal.

But how many more U.S. Olympic men’s basketball teams will be great? How many more U.S. players will respond as James did Tuesday night when a media member noted that it seems like he’s on a mission in these Olympics? “Absolutely,” James said. “You’re correct.”

Enjoy this while you still can.

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@gannett.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.