The USA Basketball He already has 11 of his 12 players confirmed for the Paris Olympic Games and the roster is a selection of talents, an authentic Dream Team, which will lead Steve Kerr. In the United States media they claim that one of the driving forces behind the gathering of most of the NBA stars is LeBron James.
In the last few hours, the list of players who agreed to be part of the team was known. Since the first Dream Team, in Barcelona ’92, the United States has won every gold medal except Athens 2004, when Argentina beat it in the semifinals and then took first place on the podium. Steve Kerr will have at his disposal Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo y Anthony Davis.
There is barely one place left to be defined and it is very possible that the coach will do so before the first concentration, which will be in July and which has friendly matches in Las Vegas on the calendar. Among the main names to occupy the last place are stars such as Kawhi Leonard, Jalen Brunson, Paolo Banchero and Jaylen Brown.
The fourth place in the World Cup in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia seems to have hurt the pride of many players who were not at the event, especially LeBron James who was the one who began to tempt several of the best players in the NBA to form a dream team to go for gold in Paris. LeBron, at 39 years old, was the first to commit to participating and will also seek, in his last dance with his country’s team, to win his fourth Olympic medal after the golds in 2008 and 2012 and the bronze in 2004.
It could also be the last tournament for Kevin Durant, 35 years old, who will pursue his fourth gold (winner in 2012, 2016 and 2020), something that no one has achieved in history. He is now tied with Carmelo Anthony. Stephen Curry, who has already turned 36, will compete in his first Olympic event, since he was part of USA Basketball, but in World Cups (with successes in 2010 and 2014).
Embiid’s choice
While all eyes will be focused on LeBron, Durant and Curry, the presence of Joel Embiid It will also be special, since the giant of Cameroonian origin will debut with the United States team after having been tempted by the French Federation for a possible nationalization. He finally opted for USA Basketball and received harsh criticism from French officials.
In the draw for the Olympic tournament, the United States team was placed in the Group C next to Serbia, South Sudan and the champion of the Pre-Olympic Championship that will be held in Puerto Rico. Olympic basketball will begin on July 27, but the American team will debut a day later facing Serbia.
