Almost all of the 11 players chosen so far by USA Basketball for the Paris Olympics were names already widely expected to be on the team. It remains to be seen who will occupy the 12th and last place.
Team USA, seeking a fifth straight Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball, selected LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday, along with Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton, sources close to the players said Athleticism.
Many U.S. officials, including Team USA general manager Grant Hill and longtime USA Basketball general manager Sean Ford, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment, and there have been no announcements official program.
U.S. officials began notifying players who made the team and those who did not. In the case of those who were on the team, USAB officials came out to present the players with special Olympic Team USA jerseys. Olympic training camp doesn’t begin until July 5 in Las Vegas, and Team USA’s first game isn’t until July 28 — but players will soon be participating in content aimed at Olympic promotion , indicated sources close to the players.
Teams are allowed to take 12 players to the Olympics. Kawhi Leonard is the leading candidate for the U.S. vacancy, with Paul George, Paolo Banchero, Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson also under consideration, sources said. Athleticism.
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Leonard, one of the favorites to make Durant and James’ team, is dealing with a knee injury and his status for the start of the playoffs with the LA Clippers is unknown.
Like Haliburton and Edwards, who are heading to Paris, Banchero, Bridges and Brunson were members of the U.S. 2023 FIBA World Cup team that finished fourth in that tournament.
In some ways, the core of this team has been known for months. Dating from September, the day after the Americans lost to Canada in the third place match at the World Cup, Athleticism reported that James, Curry and Durant are at the forefront of a group of NBA superstars ready to commit to Team USA. Embiid publicly committed to Hill in October, and with those players, Tatum and Booker, Holiday would have been a “lock” for the Olympic team in February.
Davis and Adebayo, two Olympic veterans, are obvious additions, given their size and defensive prowess, and Edwards and Haliburton are two dynamic young guards that American thinkers see as a bridge between the present and the future of the US men’s national team.
Durant, the Americans’ all-time leading scorer, has three gold medals. James has two gold medals and Tatum, Booker, Holiday, Davis and Adebayo have one. Curry has played for Team USA on two World Cup teams and won gold twice, but has yet to compete in the Olympics and Embiid has never competed internationally. James, 39, Curry, 36, and Durant, 35, have long viewed their potential partnership with Team USA for the Paris Games as a “last dance” for them within the U.S. program, especially at the approaching the final. end of their NBA career.
Curry’s Warriors coach, Steve Kerr, will coach Team USA again this summer and leave Team USA after the Olympics, he previously said. Athleticism.
(Photo: Michael Owens/Getty Images)
