First -- and mostly last -- do no harm.
That's the Hipp-Olympic oath by which every edition of the U.S. basketball team must abide.
And that's the best you can say about the 2016 squad that survived three scares in pool play, before sneaking by Spain and surging past Serbia to seize the gold medal.
Did no harm.
No harm to the nation's international winning streak, which now stands at 71, including 24 straight Olympic matches.
No harm to the reputations of Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski as the first sets out to replace the retiring -- from international competition -- second. Nor do the reputations of those who could have played, from Stephen Curry to LeBron James to Russell Westbrook to Kawhi Leonard, but chose rest and recovery.
No harm to the psyches of any of its stars, especially Kevin Durant, as the new Warrior now embarks upon a challenge that will feel strikingly similar, with anything less than domination deemed an utter abomination.
So, this went, well, fine, even if the 30-point win Sunday was needed to lift the average margin of victory to just 22.5, 10 fewer than the 2012 team. Even if all the isolation play wasn't aesthetically appealing. Even if the defense, particularly on the perimeter, was much too permissive until the final two games.
"I mean, we fought," a teary Carmelo Anthony told NBC, as fans chanted his nickname. "It wasn't always pretty, but we came together July 17th and we all committed for this one reason."
That reason was to represent their country well, and they did that just well enough.
No one did anything all that stunning -- well, other than Paul George being here at all; his presence after 2014's horrific leg injury was the embodiment of perseverance. Anthony's leadership may have surprised some, though his play was pretty much what we've come to expect, scoring flourishes amid other lapses. The others? Kyrie Irving was efficient enough offensively to overcome his defensive deficiencies. Klay Thompson slumped, then recovered. DeAndre Jordan stayed in his lane, by serving as a deterrent in the defensive lane. Kyle Lowry, not all that involved offensively, returned to his ball-dogging roots.
Durant? Well, he made shots. He has a tendency to do that.
Other players' roles will be largely forgotten. Draymond Green played much less than expected. Harrison Barnes played even less than him, after getting max money from the Mavericks. DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler had a few flashes but, no, they couldn't replicate anything close to James' wing work.
Still, they should receive collective credit for not screwing this up, and creating a cluster of headaches for themselves and everyone involved with the USA Basketball program. While a loss might have compelled more frontline stars to commit next time, the negativity also might have scared some away.
It didn't, of course, in 2008. That's when Anthony, James and Dwyane Wade all took part, after getting limited action on the bronze medal 2004 team -- the one that lost three times, to Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Argentina. The one that embarrassed itself, and needed to be redeemed.
This team won't need to be redeemed, even if it won't be all that remembered.
"I've seen the worst and I've seen the best," Anthony said. "But I stuck with it. We stuck with it."
They did.
Now they get to go home.
Wrapped in the flag, rather than shame.
