PHILADELPHIA– Unlike the World Championships in China in 2019, this was one time Team USA did not have to look for stars to fill out its roster for the Tokyo Olympics. .
Gregg Popavich, who coached an undermanned U.S. national team to a disappointing seventh place finish in World Championships in China, has 12 players committed who should be the favorites to win the gold medal in the 2021.
The biggest stars are 6-10 forward Kevin Durant– a two time gold medalist in 2012 and 2016 teams who was the star of the American gold medal team in 2016 and is arguably the best player in the world– and guard James Hardin from the Brooklyn Nets, a member of the 2012 team; and guard Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers.
Durant, who is one of the best pure scorers in the history of the game, is just 25 points shy of Carmelo Anthony’s all-time Olympic scoring record.
The rest of the roster includes guard Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, forward Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, guard Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards, forward Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks, center Bam Abebayo of the Miami Heat, center Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, guard Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks, forward Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers and center Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Tatum, Middleton and Lopez are the only players back from the 2019 U.S. World Championship roster.
While the roster looks strong, it is missing some big name talents who turned down a shot to play for Team USA. They include forward LeBron James and center Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers, guard Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors, guard Kyrie Irving of the Nets, guard Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat, guard Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz and point guard Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns
Several other stars didn’t make the cut: Zion Williamson of New Orleans, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard of the L.A. Clippers, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, Mike Conley of the Utah Jazz, Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls, Julius Randle of the New York Knicks and Jaylen Brown of the Celtics.
There are two factors that could affect Team USA ‘s play First, Team USA isn’t particularly big, Lopez is the only seven-footer. Adebayo is a full time center but is only listed at 6-9. Green can play both center and power forward but is only 6-7 and rim protection could become an issue if Lopez gets overwhelmed on the floor or Adebayo gets into foul trouble.
Second,. it’s also possible that four players– Booker, Middleton, Holiday and Lopez– will play in the NBA finals, which would force them to miss training camp for the Olympics. The turnaround could be tight, as Game 7 of the finals is scheduled for July 22, one day before the games began. And an incomplete roster during training camp could affect team chemistry.
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Seventeen finalists for the 2021 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Cup Team have been announced following four practice sessions over two days at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas that involved 26 players. The list of finalists includes 10 players who completed their first collegiate season in 2020-21 and seven players from the high school class of 2021.
Named as finalists were: Patrick Baldwin Jr. of Hamilton H.S./Sussex, Wis.; Kendall Brown of Sunrise Christian Academy /Cottage Grove, Minn.; Kennedy Chandler of Sunrise Christian Academy/Memphis, Tenn.; Jonathan Davis of Wisconsin/La Crosse, Wis.; Caleb Furst of Blackhawk Christian School/Fort Wayne, Ind. Chet Holmgren; Jordan Hall of Texas A&M/Wildwood, N.J.; Chet Holmgren of Minnehaha Academy/Minneapolis, Minn.; Harrison Ingram of St. Mark’s School/Dallas, Texas; Jaden Ivey of Purdue /South Bend, Ind.; Ryan Kalkbrenner of Creighton/St. Louis, Mo.; Kenneth Lofton, Jr. of Louisiana Tech/Port Arthur, Texas; Mike Miles of TCU/Lancaster, Texas; Adam Miller of Louisiana State/Chicago, Ill.; Trey Patterson of Villanova /Somerset, N.J.); ; Devion Smith of Georgia Tech/Loganville, Ga.; Jabari Walker of Colorado/Inglewood, Calif. and Peyton Watson of Long Beach Poly Tech H.S./Long Beach, Calif. Selections were made by the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee. Athletes eligible for this team must be 19 years old or younger (born on or after Jan. 1, 2002.
