With a month left until the start of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Team USA is starting to fill out its 12-man roster with NBA stars.
Guards Devin Booker, Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal have already announced they’ll be manning the backcourt for Team USA this summer. All three guards have never participated in the Olympics before.
The frontcourt will consist of a more Olympic experienced group of players with Draymond Green, who won gold for Team USA at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Jayson Tatum, who was a member of the 2019 USA World Cup Team, and Kevin Durant, who was part of Team USA’s gold medal rosters in 2012 and 2016.
Durant’s commitment makes him the latest addition to the roster. The 6-foot-10 forward announced he’ll be joining the team a day after Brooklyn was eliminated from the playoffs following the Game 7 loss to the Bucks, according to Shams Charania of The Atlantic. Through the past years, Durant has played a vital role for Team USA. Having him on the roster is a great boost, as he’s one of the best scorers in basketball history. Entering this 2021 summer, Durant is just 25 points shy of Carmelo Anthony’s all-time Olympic scoring record.
There are also several all-stars who have declined to play for Team USA. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Jimmy Butler have said they will not join the team. James confirmed that he plans to spend his offseason resting and promoting his upcoming Space Jam sequel.
Other NBA athletes are still on the fence about joining. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Stephen Curry recently said that he is still 50-50 on whether he joins the team. According to NBC Sports, Kawhi Leonard has said that he wants to play for the team, but Los Angeles remains in the playoffs and that could affect whether he can join the team.
San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich will coach the team, assisted by Golden State coach Steve Kerr, Villanova coach Jay Wright and former Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce.
The team will likely announce the rosters later this month with the beginning of training camp starting July 7. The tournament will begin with the group stage going from July 25 to Aug. 1 and the knockout rounds running from Aug. 3 to Aug. 7.
The following 57 players were named as finalists by Team USA. In all likelihood, that means the final roster will be comprised of players on this list.
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