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As USA Basketball officials work to put together the final roster of 12 NBA stars heading to the Paris Olympics this summer, a picture is beginning to emerge of who will be on the team.
USA Basketball’s recent conversations with interested parties mention Boston Celtics star guard, Olympic gold medalist and NBA champion Jrue Holiday, and Phoenix Suns All-NBA shooting guard and Olympic gold winner , Devin Booker, along with Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid. and Jayson Tatum as the expected core of the team barring injury, said multiple NBA sources and sources close to the American team. The Athletic.
At least some of them have already begun initial planning and public commitments related to their Olympic participation, sources said. Several U.S. officials said Wednesday that the final Olympic roster is not set.
In addition to the seven true heavyweights listed above, budding superstars Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton, two members of the United States’ 2023 World Cup team, are under strong consideration for the Paris Games, those same sources said. Edwards and Haliburton were two of the Americans’ best players last summer, on a team that finished a disappointing fourth at the World Cup in Manila.
If these nine players make the US roster, that would leave three players to choose from. Only Embiid is a “traditional” big man (in the modern sense of the position: he shoots 37 percent from 3-point range as a 7-footer), so the Americans would need to add more size. Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers are also considered strong roster candidates, and Davis said during All-Star weekend that he would play for the Americans if asked.
James, who is 6-foot-8 and still runs the court like a freight train on offense but weighs over 260 pounds, could also play the 4 in a lineup with Durant and/or Tatum on the wings.
Team USA, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in men’s basketball, is targeting the first rounds of the NBA playoffs to announce its Paris roster, which means late April or May. There is still one major caveat for any player considered locked in: that player’s health at the time of the announcement and then when he begins training camp in early July. It’s one of the main reasons why last month the US team released a list of 41 players from which the final team will be chosen. If someone gets hurt or retires, Team USA will have been able to stay engaged with potential replacements.
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U.S. officials, led by general manager Grant Hill and Sean Ford, who oversees the day-to-day operations of the men’s national team, and coach Steve Kerr, are still counting on Embiid, who underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus. earlier this month, but could return to the 76ers lineup before the end of the regular season. Embiid’s plans to represent Team USA in the Olympics remain intact, a source said.
Durant and James, decorated U.S. Olympic veterans, have been publicly emphatic in their commitment to the Paris Olympics, and USAB simply couldn’t keep them off the team if they wanted to play. Curry, who has never played in an Olympic Games, wants this year and the team (led by Kerr, his longtime Warriors coach) to be his debut.
Team USA has been pursuing Holiday for much of the NBA season, and Holiday has delivered his commitment to USAB officials in recent weeks, sources said. Team officials have valued Holiday’s two-way ability, his defense at the point of attack and his dynamic way of playing. Holiday was considered Team USA’s second-most important player behind Durant at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
The draw to determine who the Americans will play in the first round of the Olympic tournament in Lille, France, will be held on March 19.
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