LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant will lead a star-studded United States Olympic basketball team vying for a sixth consecutive gold medal in this summer’s Paris Games, authorities confirmed Wednesday.
USA Basketball has finalized a powerful 12-man lineup stacked with NBA talent, including reigning MVP Joel Embiid and Boston Celtics standouts Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday.
Los Angeles Lakers star James, the NBA’s all-time top scorer, will compete in his fourth Olympics, following appearances in 2004, 2008, and 2012.
Golden State star Curry, whose season ended on Tuesday when the Warriors were eliminated from the NBA play-in playoffs, will compete in his first Olympics.
Other notable players on a roster that includes 12 NBA All-Stars, four NBA MVPs, and six NBA champions include Phoenix’s Devin Booker, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard.
Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton are also mentioned.
“We’re just grateful for this incredible collection of players, people who well understand what’s at stake, all committed to being part of this incredible journey,” USA Basketball men’s national team managing director Grant Hill said on a Zoom press conference discussing the selection.
“We look forward to getting together and certainly pursuing a gold medal, which is ultimately the gold standard in which we’re measuring.”
While the United States has dominated recent Olympics, they were relegated to fourth at last year’s FIBA World Cup.
Grant said that stinging disappointment highlighted a need for top quality defense and the selection of Embiid, Davis and Adebayo gives the squad an imposing physical presence.
“You know, we weren’t as good as we could be defensively,” Hill said. “I thought the physicality of the FIBA game gave us trouble.
“So size and experience and certainly more of a defensive identity” were at the forefront in selectors’ minds.
“We have the utmost respect for the level of competition we will face this summer,” Hill said.
“The Olympics represent the pinnacle of sport and the world will be watching the USA as we play in the toughest basketball tournament in history.”
Why wait?
Embiid and Leonard will make their debuts for the United States national team in a pre-Olympic game against Canada on July 10 in Las Vegas.
Embiid was born in Cameroon, although he also holds US and French citizenship. He declared his decision to play for the United States earlier this year, stating that he had “cultivated a relationship without being overbearing” after discovering that the Sixers’ star big man would be able to play for the USA.
“He was never committed either way,” Hill explained. “He was extremely thoughtful. And we’re overjoyed that he’s with us, and we look forward to having someone like him. We haven’t had a center big guy like him in a long time.”
Steve Kerr of Golden State has been selected head coach, with Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, the Clippers’ Tyronn Lue, and Gonzaga University’s Mark Few serving as assistants.
Hill said no one reached by USA Basketball declined an invitation.
Although there was no formal plan to make the news on the same day that the 100-day countdown to the Paris opening ceremony began, Hill said there was no point in waiting, even if several players are just getting ready for the NBA playoffs, which begin on Saturday.
“We knew this was the team that we wanted and we also know that there’ll be a lot of interest and a lot of people who will want to be along for this incredible journey we’re about to be on,” he said.
“So if we know, why wait.”