Brian Windhorst knows ball.

He proved that by boldly but correctly predicting that the Boston Celtics would win the gold medal at the Olympics over Team USA and the field. And, in the process, hushing up gold medal sprinter Noah Lyles and his “world champions” remarks from last August. Lyles questioned why NBA champions claim they are “world” champions even though they only play American teams plus the Toronto Raptors.

“Today is not the day to disagree with Noah Lyles. … If the Boston Celtics were in this [Olympic] tournament, I think they’d have a very good chance to win it,” Windhorst said on the August 5 edition of NBA Today.

Boston Celtics’ chemistry would help them beat Team USA and the field, win Olympic gold

At first glance, many would question if the Celtics, or any team on earth for that matter, could take down a squad with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry on it. And it’s a fair question.

But that same roster had trouble putting away South Sudan in an Olympic exhibition and has failed to steamroll the competition as they were tabbed to. Meanwhile, Boston had a historic net rating – 11.6, which was the No. 4 net rating of all time — and has stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who enjoy being teammates on and off the court.

It helps Boston’s cause that Brown has issues with Team USA’s leadership after being snubbed from the roster and engaging in a back-and-forth with managing director Grant Hill.

Extra motivation from the team’s 1A star? A year of championship chemistry formed? Taking three valuable players off of Team USA’s current roster (Tatum, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday), with two of them (Tatum, Holiday) being part-time starters?

Yeah, the Celtics wouldn’t have to answer to Lyles any longer if they entered the Olympics 5 x 5 men’s basketball field. They’d be gold medalists and beat the best of the world to become the undisputed world champions.