If the US wanted to win this tournament, it easily could. I'm not sure we will see the US place it's best players back in the Olympics ever again, or at least anytime soon.
Then I think they didn't value the tournament that much, as they didn't send their best players to dominate and win. Well, if we examine the roster of the team, the players are not the best or, let's say, at least not in the top 10 in terms of statistics. But there's no sense in sending players to a tournament if they themselves aren't sure they would win, unless they are underestimating their opponents?
You can certainly make the case that NBA players don’t care about this tournament. Jimmy Butler came out and said as much. I’m sure the players on the floor want to win no matter what though. Sure, the NBA still has the greatest players in the world but the gap is closing and as seen here, without a handful of superstars the gap may be nonexistent.
Some of the games top players are now not from the US. Doncic, jokic, etc but you are right most of the top players don't want to put extra mileage on themselves, their legacy lies with how many NBA titles they've won not how many international tournaments they won. If you go deep into the playoffs as well as these other tournaments you break down quicker. And then there is that chance of injury as well blowing a whole season because of some other tournament.
The other thing people don’t account for is that some of these international teams play with each other quite a bit and in some cases for many years. That makes a big difference when you’re playing against a team of guys thrown together with a few weeks to try and nail down chemistry and how their offense will be run.
