Chris Broussard says Team USA’s World Cup loss to Belgium exposed the gap with soccer’s elite

Chris Broussard joined Dan Dakich on Don’t @ Me on Tuesday morning to tell the tales of the NBA and Team USA’s harrowing collapse at the World Cup.

Broussard, one of the hosts of the wildly popular “First Things First” show, weighed in on Jaylen Brown’s value, LeBron James’ future and the state of the USMNT.

Dakich asked if the Celtics were tired of Brown and the narratives surrounding him.

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“No, I think it more comes down to that,” Broussard said.

“Dan, I think he’s great from an analytical standpoint. He was on my All-NBA Second Team and fifth in my MVP voting. But from an analytical standpoint, the numbers never liked him.

“There are 23 active players with five or more All-Star appearances. He’s one of them, but he ranks 22nd in career plus-minus and is one of only two players, along with DeMar DeRozan, to have a negative career plus-minus. Last year against Philadelphia, they had him at a minus-24 on the court and a plus-six off the court.”

Giovanni Reyna of the USA is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the fourth goal in a World Cup Group D match against Paraguay on June 12, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)

Brou argued that public perception does not always align with how NBA front offices evaluate players.

“To me, I missed that,” Broussard continued.

“But the Celtics are an analytics-driven front office, just like a lot of teams in the league right now. I feel like they didn’t think Jaylen was as good as the media thought he was and the accolades suggested. I think it was very much an analytics-driven decision and they felt like the numbers showed they could be better without him.”

IT’S DEFINITELY LIKE LEBRON JAMES IS GOING BACK TO CLEVELAND TO END HIS CAREER WITH THE CAVALIERS.

Dakich then asked where the NBA’s all-time leading scorer would finish his career.

While Denver and Minnesota make sense from a basketball standpoint, Broussard thinks LeBron will return to the Eastern Conference for one last run.

“I think it’s Cleveland. I think he wants to go home,” Broussard said.

“One of his best friends works in the front office in Cleveland, Brandon Weems, who he grew up with. I think he looks at Cleveland as a place where he has a chance to win. They can win the East, and we’ve seen the last few years that if you go there, you have a chance. We saw that in Indiana.

“It’s also a great place to finish. You’re talking about the perfect ending for a guy who’s traveled so much. The perfect start to finish this great career would be in Cleveland. If it were all about basketball, you could make a case for Minnesota or Denver. But why stay in the West? Go East, where there’s an easier path to the Finals.”

May 23, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after dunking against the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter of the fourth game of the NBA Playoffs Eastern conference finals played at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Broussard also focused on the US Men’s National Team after the loss to Belgium.

While the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino has boosted optimism, Broussard said the team’s recent run had created a false sense of progress following victories against lower-flight rivals.

“We played wall-to-wall football in our show,” Broussard said.

“I said it on the air this morning, Dan. My colleagues and I, and I think most of America, have become intoxicated with sports patriotism. I’m starting to think, ‘Hey, we’re definitely making it to the quarterfinals, and who knows, maybe we can do something magic.” Yesterday we learned that there are some levels to this.

“We got there against a much better team. We had to take notice of all the teams we beat: Paraguay, ranked 41st in the world; Australia, ranked 27th; Turkey, ranked 22nd. Bosnia, ranked 64th. We advanced to the majors against Belgium, ranked 9th in the world.”

For Broussard, the defeat served as a reality check that underlined the gap between the United States and the world’s football elite.

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Broussard concluded: “And we learned that Pochettino said, ‘Why not us?’ he asked. Here’s why: we’re not good enough. We faced a better team. In the end I wasn’t even mad because I was like, ‘Hey, this is why we don’t usually make it past the Round of 16.’ I said. “We are not good enough at football and we saw that yesterday.”

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