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PrintHere’s a betting option you don’t see every day.
Would you believe this spread was actually at 55 last night?
Maybe this is the oddsmakers’ way of poking fun at Kobe Bryant’s claims that this year’s Dream Team could beat the ones of old in the 1990s. If Bryant and Team USA cover the gigantic spread today against Tunisia, it would be the largest margin of victory since 1996.
Even the original 1992 Dream Team only won by more than 53.5 points one time—a 116-48 victory against Angola in their first-ever game.
In fact, here’s the amount of times Team USA has won by 54 points or more in their history of Olympic basketball.
1996: 1
1992: 1
1984: 1
1968: 1
1964: 2
1960: 3
1956: 5
1948: 1
So, today, Team USA can try to do something that’s happened only four times in the past 44 years. The largest margin of victory since 1996 came in the Beijing Games in 2008, a 106-57 victory over Germany.
The USA is ranked No. 1 in the world. Tunisia is 32nd, behind countries like Israel, Panama and Iran. The USA has 12 All-Stars and several future Hall of Famers on its roster. Tunisia has zero pros. The USA has won 13 gold medals in 16 Olympic appearances. Tunisia has never even competed in the Olympics.
You know the players will never admit they have a point spread in mind while playing, but can we go ahead and credit gambling for adding intrigue to an otherwise unwatchable matchup?
