Almost all of 12 roster spots on the USA Basketball Team for the Paris Olympics have been filled, according to numerous NBA insiders.
“Team USA, looking for its fifth consecutive Olympic gold in men’s basketball, selected LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, and Jrue Holiday, as well as Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards, and Tyrese Haliburton, sources close to the players told The Athletic.”
Although there have been on official announcements from the team itself, these names have been known since September when Team USA lost to Canada in the FIBA World Cup.
Many veteran NBA players like LeBron James and Steph Curry made a commitment then and there to the Paris Games, which will be held in July.
Insiders Shams Charania and Joe Vardon reported that Clippers star Kawhi Leonard is the front runner to fill the last remaining spot on the roster.
“Teams are permitted to take 12 players to the Olympics. Kawhi Leonard is the leading candidate for the USA vacancy with Paul George, Paolo Banchero, Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson also under consideration, sources told The Athletic.”
They added, “Leonard, a favorite to make the team of both Durant and James, is battling a knee injury and his status for the start of the playoffs with the L.A. Clippers is unknown.”
The team’s depth chart could end up looking something like this:
PG: Curry / Holiday / Haliburton
SG: Booker / Edwards
SF: Durant / Tatum
PF: James / AD
C: Embiid / Adebayo
Which is a wild amount of talent to have in one team.
Between them, the players have ten Olympic gold medals – Durant (three), LeBron (two), while Tatum, Booker, Holiday, Davis and Adebayo all have one have.
Steph has played in two FIBA World Cups (2010 and 2014), winning gold both times, but is yet to play in the Olympics.
Team USA has won gold in four straight Olympics.
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