By Brandon Zhu
On this day in 2002, Argentina pulled off one of the biggest upsets in basketball history, beating the U.S. 87-80 in the 2nd round of the FIBA World Championships in Indianapolis, IN. This marked the first U.S. loss in 59 games since sending NBA players to international competition in 1992. The next few games didn’t get any better, and it was a disappointing tournament overall for the host country. Following the loss to Argentina, Team USA was defeated by Yugoslavia the next day. Two days later they lost again to Spain. The U.S. men’s basketball team finished the FIBA World Championship in sixth place on their own soil. The starting roster consisted of Paul Pierce, Antonio Davis, Ben Wallace, Reggie Miller, and Andre Miller. Paul Pierce was yet to reach his prime, while Reggie Miller and Andre Miller were way past theirs. In retrospect, the 2002 Team USA roster just didn’t have the star power to win on the international stage.