The experiences from 1992 and 1996 led people to not allow Team USA to lose at the Olympics. They not only mustn't lose, but must win easily and beautifully, ideally with big scores in every game.
Otherwise, if the NBA claims to be the world's strongest league, and these stars are each earning millions of US Dollars annually in the league, with media and journalists extolling them as extraordinarily talented and powerful, and one player's income surpassing the opposing team's entire earnings, failing to overpower opponents is a kind of failure.
However, fans' expectations aside, only insiders know that the gap between world basketball and American basketball has been rapidly narrowing in recent years.
Moreover, while NBA players have strong individual skills, once they're grouped to compete in the Olympics, they face challenges like short training time, lack of teamwork synergy, and most importantly, the difference in rules between the NBA and FIBA.
