Meltdown shocks Americans

They’ve never played together before and they put themselves in the arena and competed

KEMBA Walker and the United States ponder on their future following a quarterfinal lost to France. AFP

DONGGUAN, China (AFP) — Coach Gregg Popovich deflected talk about his missing megastars after Team USA’s glorious run in major competition came to a juddering halt from the hands of France.

The US lost to Greece in the World Cup semifinals in 2006 but then went on a 58-game winning streak with NBA players on the roster that brought them three Olympic golds and two World Cup crowns.

But they became just the latest high-profile casualty in China as the powerhouses of basketball went down 89-79 in the quarterfinals to France.

“It doesn’t matter who was on the team. I couldn’t be more proud of these 12 guys, who sacrificed their summer to come here,” said Popovich, the mastermind behind the San Antonio Spurs’ success.

The prospect of an early American exit had always looked possible after they sent an unfamiliar collection of second-tier stars.

They also had one of the youngest rosters in the World Cup after their top NBA names pulled out injured or otherwise made themselves unavailable.

LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Curry, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Paul George all opted out.

Kevin Durant, Kyle Lowry and Klay Thompson were injured.

“They’ve never played together before and they put themselves in the arena and competed,” the 70-year-old Popovich said of his squad.

“And they deserve credit for that, just like France deserves credit for winning.