Former Lakers Guard Dennis Schroder Calls 2023 German National Team The Best Team He's Ever Played For

• Schroder is feeling confident after Germany's win over Team USA

• NBA point guard says his World Cup team this year is better than any of his NBA teams

• Fans take note after Schroder takes a slight dig at his former teams

NBA point guard Dennis Schroder has been lighting it up for Germany in the World Cup this year. And after beating Team USA in the semi-finals this week, the former Lakers guard raised some eyebrows by calling his current squad the best basketball team he's ever been on -- even over his teams in the NBA.

"I think this is the best team I've ever played on, whether it's the NBA or national team," said Schroder, per BasketNews. As good as Germany has been in the World Cup this year, ranking them over any of his NBA teams (especially the 2021 and 2023 Lakers) is a questionable decision. Early in his career, Schroder played for some solid Hawks teams before breaking out into a borderline starter for the OKC Thunder. His most successful seasons, of course, were with the Lakers. During both Lakers stints, Schroder played alongside some of the best players in the world, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Needless to say, Lakers fans aren't pleased with the comments.

In 2021, the Purple and Gold finished 7th in the West but were 14 games above .500 and gave the Phoenix Suns a good fight before their elimination in the first round. They were a deep and well-rounded team at the time and were overall pretty elite even if they failed to close the deal in the end.

After a brief hiatus away from the team, Scroder returned to LA for, arguably, his best season to date. As a 12-point-per-game scorer off the bench, he was crucial for helping the Lakers mount their second-half comeback and making a run to the Conference Finals.

Germany obviously doesn't have the same track record of success as NBA teams, but they have become the story of the tournament so far after their surprising upset over Team USA.

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Germany Shocking Everyone In 2023 World Cup

As one of the only NBA players on the German national team roster this year, Schroder has been playing a big role on the team with averages of 17.9 points, 2 rebounds, and 6.7 assists in 7 games so far.

Coming into this year's World Cup, nobody was expecting much from Germany and they were considered underdogs in the early stages of the tournament. But thanks to strong play from guys like Schroder, Franz Wagner, Andreas Obst, and Daniel Theis, they have dominated the field so far and are just win more win away from securing the gold.

Still in the middle of this magical run, Schroder is obviously feeling some strong national pride but the success of Germany and Serbia over the star-studded Team USA does draw some questions about the state of US basketball.

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Team USA Is Falling Behind

If Team USA's early elimination taught us anything, it's that other countries are finally starting to close the talent gap. In the days of the 90s, 2000s, and even early 2010s, the US was so far ahead of everyone else that they didn't even need the top players to participate every single year.

Today, things have changed in a huge way. With roughly 120 people of the NBA's player base being from overseas, it's clear that the league has become more globalized than ever and star power is no longer exclusive to the United States.

Over the next few years, this trend will only continue to grow and if the US wants to keep up with everyone else, they'll need to be more selective with their recruiting process going forward. For now, Germany has all the bragging rights, and some, like Dennis Schroder, are taking full advantage of the moment.

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