There are few surprises in USA Basketball’s player pool for the Paris Olympics, which was announced Tuesday, with most of the big names including LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the list.
The surprise may have been who was missing.
Draymond Green, who helped the U.S. win gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and then another title at the rescheduled 2021 Tokyo Olympics, was not among the 41 names released by USA Basketball as candidates for the team that will compete in Paris this summer. seeking a fifth consecutive gold medal.
The pool naming is the first official stage in the process of building a twelve-player Olympic roster, which will be coached by Golden State’s Steve Kerr and assisted by Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, Los Angeles’ Tyronn Lue Clippers and Mark Few of Gonzaga. Team selection will be finalized this spring, with many of those decisions likely depending on the health of the players and how deep their respective teams go in the NBA playoffs.
“The United States has incredible basketball talent and I am thrilled that many of the game’s superstars have expressed interest in representing our country at the 2024 Summer Olympics,” said Grant Hill, director of the men’s national team. “It is a privilege to select the team that will help us move towards the goal of being back on top of the Olympic podium. This challenging process will unfold over the coming months as we eagerly await the start of the national team’s activities.”
The pool, which is subject to change, includes 13 players who already have Olympic gold medals – Durant has three, James and Chris Paul each have two, while Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, James Harden, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving and Paul George each have one.
If he plays and the U.S. wins, Durant would be the first men’s player with four basketball gold titles.
“I’m going to compete in the Olympics,” Durant said adamantly at media day in Phoenix last fall.
The remaining 28 players on the list are led by a pair who could be making their Olympic debut, including Embiid and Curry. Both said last year they would like to play on the U.S. team in Paris, although nothing will be finalized until their NBA seasons end.
“I definitely want to be there,” Curry said last fall. “I definitely want to be on the team.”
Embiid — the reigning NBA MVP, two-time scoring champion and Philadelphia star who scored 70 points Monday night — could have decided to play for France (he has dual citizenship) or even Cameroon, his native country, if they qualified. Instead, he opted to play for the USA last fall.
“If he gets motivated … anything can happen,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said.
Also chosen for the pool: Jarrett Allen, Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Mikal Bridges, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Alex Caruso, Anthony Edwards, De’Aaron Fox, Aaron Gordon, Tyrese Haliburton, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr, Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson, Derrick White and Trae Young.
‘We are going to Paris. We are going to do something special,” said Adebayo, who won his first gold in 2021 and is expected to be part of the 2024 team. “I think about it and I get excited because I have the opportunity to do something special – two time.”
Green had expressed some interest in joining the team for Paris last year.
But the Golden State forward missed 16 games from mid-December to mid-January while serving an indefinite suspension for punching Phoenix center Jusuf Nurkić in the face. Green said he was considering retirement and sought counseling before being reinstated.
Players not in the pool are not exactly eligible for the Olympic team; Even if it’s a long shot, it’s happened before. San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson wasn’t one of the 57 players USA Basketball announced as pool members in March 2021, but he was ultimately selected to the Tokyo Games team and won a gold medal under Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
That said, it took extraordinary circumstances for Johnson to find himself in that position.
He was part of the U.S. Select Team that practiced against the Olympic team to help it prepare for the Tokyo Games, was promoted to the national team in part due to some players still competing in the NBA Finals, and then was added to the Olympic selection. along with JaVale McGee) when Bradley Beal and Kevin Love – both picked for the team – had to drop out late in the process.