The U.S.A men’s basketball team, aka Dream Team, dominated the 2012 Olympics and brought home the gold.  Well, members of the FIBA feels the age mixtures serves as an advantage for the U.S.A team (and has for years).

 

FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann says an under-23 policy limit for men probably won’t be proposed for Rio. The NBA has been in favor of basketball moving to a soccer model, in which teams are made up of players 23 and younger, with three roster exceptions for older players.

 

That model likely would bring to an end the superstar era for the USA, which started using established NBA veterans in 1992. LeBron James says he would not play if he was granted an exception in an under-23 format.

 

The Americans’ dominance in London has also raised questions about changing the rules.

 

Baumann says one possible solution was pushing the World Cup of Basketball back a year and using it as the qualifier for the 2020 Olympics, instead of making teams potentially play three years in a row. (Source)

 

 

What are your thoughts?  Do you think the new rule will make a difference?