For USA Basketball, the focus immediately shifts to the Paris Olympics

MANILA: There was a long flight awaiting USA Basketball on Monday. Manila to Los Angeles, about 13 hours on a chartered jet that didn’t have the Wi-Fi that’s necessary to communicate with the outside world from 30,000 feet. No texting, no emails.

That’s unfortunate. Those were 13 hours where recruiting for Paris couldn’t happen.

The World Cup is over. The US didn’t medal. The world proved again that the Americans, even with NBA players, are vulnerable on the international stage. And now, every bit of USA Basketball’s focus shifts to the Paris Olympics — where the challenge will be even tougher than the World Cup, which again reminded the Americans how much the FIBA game has changed.

“The narrative about USA Basketball and FIBA, and do we need reminders, we’re past that,” US coach Steve Kerr said. “These teams are really good.”

Kerr will be at the Olympics next summer. His staff — Erik Spoelstra, Tyronn Lue and Mark Few — are also committed to the Paris Games. USA Basketball’s team leadership, Grant Hill and Sean Ford, will spend the next few months trying to pick the right 12 players to accompany them to Paris.

The mission won’t change: gold or else. Silver won’t be enough, bronze won’t be enough, a repeat of Manila’s fourth-place finish would be a disaster. The US have gone to the Olympics in men’s basketball 19 times and has won 19 medals, the last four of them gold. On paper, it looks easy. It is not, not anymore. It probably never will be easy again.

“I don’t think as Americans and basketball players that we think that we can’t lose,” said USA Basketball legend Carmelo Anthony, who won four Olympic medals — three gold, one bronze — with the national team. “I think the fear of losing is what drives us and what