Kobe Bryant addressed Team USA's struggles in the FIBA World Cup, saying that the rest of the world has been as good as the U.S. for some time.

Team USA finished seventh, their worst showing in a major tournament since NBA players were allowed to participate in 1992.

"It's not a matter of the rest of the world catching up to the U.S., it's that the rest of the world has been caught up for quite some time. And it's to the point now where us in the U.S. are going to win some, we're going lose some. And that's just how it goes," said Bryant.

Bryant added that Team USA already had several close calls even at full strength.

"You have to remember, on the Redeem Team we needed a hell of a fourth quarter to beat Spain. That was a hell of a team we had. We still needed a real late push to beat Spain in that gold-medal match. So I say that to say, put the best players that you think are going to make the best U.S. team out on the floor, we are still going to have challenges," added Bryant.