Adding 15 players to 42 previously selected USA Basketball Men’s National Team finalists, 57 athletes today were announced by USA Basketball as finalists for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team. The player selections were approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors. The official 12-member U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team roster will be announced later this year.
Added to the 2021 USA National Team roster, from which the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team will be selected, were – Jarrett Allen (Cleveland Cavaliers); Eric Gordon (Houston Rockets); Jerami Grant (Detroit Pistons); Blake Griffin (Brooklyn Nets); Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks); DeAndre Jordan (Brooklyn Nets); Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls); Julius Randle (New York Knicks); Duncan Robinson (Miami Heat); Mitchell Robinson (New York Knicks); Fred VanVleet (Toronto Raptors); John Wall (Houston Rockets); Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans); Christian Wood (Houston Rockets);
and Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks).
Forty-two of the athletes who were named as finalists on Feb. 10, 2020, also were confirmed for the 2021 list, including: Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat); LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs); Harrison Barnes (Sacramento Kings); Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards); Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns); Malcolm Brogdon (Indiana Pacers); Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics); Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat); Mike Conley (Utah Jazz); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers); DeMar DeRozan (San Antonio Spurs); Andre Drummond (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets); Paul George (LA Clippers); Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors); James Harden (Brooklyn Nets); Montrezl Harrell (Los Angeles Lakers); Joe Harris (Brooklyn Nets); Tobias Harris (Philadelphia 76ers); Gordon Hayward (Charlotte Hornets); Dwight Howard (Philadelphia 76ers); Brandon Ingram (New Orleans Pelicans); Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets); LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers); Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers); Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers); Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers); Brook Lopez (Milwaukee Bucks); Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors); JaVale McGee (Cleveland Cavaliers); Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks); Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz); Victor Oladipo (Houston Rockets); Chris Paul (Phoenix Suns); Mason Plumlee (Detroit Pistons); Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics); Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers); Kemba Walker (Boston Celtics); Russell Westbrook (Washington Wizards); and Derrick White (San Antonio Spurs).
“With the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics from 2020 to 2021, it’s important that we continue to remain flexible and consider all players who can contribute to our efforts to field the best USA team possible. These additions we are announcing today will help ensure that we are doing that,” said Jerry Colangelo, who has served as the managing director of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team since 2005.
“Having a larger player pool than what we normally have is critical because of all of the uncertainties we face about availability. But for USA Basketball to receive the commitment of so many outstanding players remains an indicator of the great honor of representing your country means to these men.”
The USA National Team coaching staff is led by long-time San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, and serving as USA assistant coaches are Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, former Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce and Villanova University head coach Jay Wright.
All told, there are 29 players who have played for the USA in an Olympics and/or a FIBA World Cup, and together they have won 31 Olympic or FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medals and four bronze medals.
The list of finalists includes nine members of the gold medalist 2016 U.S. Olympic Team, seven gold medalists from the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team and three gold medalists from the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.
Three-time Olympic medalist James (2008 and 2012 gold, 2004 bronze) could be become just the second U.S. male basketball player to make four U.S. Olympic teams (tying with Carmelo Anthony), while Durant (2012 and 2016 gold medalist) and Paul (2008 and 2012 gold medalist) are seeking to become three-time Olympians.
Nine players from the gold medal winning 2016 U.S. Olympic team that went 8-0 in Rio de Janeiro remain in contention, including Barnes, Butler, DeRozan, Durant, George, Green, Irving, Jordan and Lowry.
Davis, Durant, Harden, James, Love, Paul and Westbrook were members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team that compiled an unblemished record of 8-0 and captured gold in London; while Howard, James and Paul were gold medalists with the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.
Eleven members of the USA’s 2019 World Cup Team are among the 2021 finalists, including Barnes, Brown, Joe Harris, Lopez, Middleton, Mitchell, Plumlee, Tatum, Turner, Walker and White.
Seven were members of the 2014 USA World Cup Team that finished 9-0 and captured gold in Spain, including Curry, Davis, DeRozan, Drummond, Harden, World Cup MVP Irving and Plumlee. Five finalists were members of the 2010 USA World Cup squad that went 9-0 and captured gold in Istanbul, Turkey, including Curry, World Cup MVP Durant, Gordon, Love and Westbrook; while Howard, James and Paul earned a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Cup in Japan.
The finalists represent 24 different NBA teams, with the Brooklyn Nets (Durant, Griffin, Harden, Joe Harris, Irving and Jordan), leading the way with six players; while the Cleveland Cavaliers (Allen, Drummond, Love and McGee), Houston Rockets (Gordon, Oladipo, Wall and Wood) and Los Angeles Lakers (Davis, Harrell, James and Kuzma) all feature four players; and the Boston Celtics (Brown, Tatum and Walker), San Antonio Spurs (Aldridge, DeRozan and White), Miami Heat (Adebayo, Butler and Duncan Robinson) and the Milwaukee Bucks (Holiday, Lopez and Middleton) each feature three players. The Detroit Pistons (Grant and Plumlee), Golden State Warriors (Curry and Green), Indiana Pacers (Brogdon and Turner), LA Clippers (George and Leonard), New Orleans Pelicans (Ingram and Williamson), New York Knicks (Randell and Mitchell Robinson), Philadelphia 76ers (Tobias Harris and Howard), Phoenix Suns (Booker and Paul), Toronto Raptors (Lowry and VanVleet), Utah Jazz (Conley and Mitchell) and Washington Wizards (Beal and Westbrook) each have two players among the 57 finalists; and represented by one player are the Atlanta Hawks (Young), Charlotte Hornets (Haywood), Chicago Bulls (LaVine), Portland Trail Blazers (Lillard) and Sacramento Kings (Barnes).
Fifty-five finalists possess USA Basketball international or USA National Team experience. James leads the way with 68 games of international experience, and he is followed by Paul (50), Durant (44), Curry (40), Howard (38), Irving (33), Plumlee (31), Love (28), Westbrook (28), Tatum (26), Barnes (25), Davis (25), Harden (25), Drummond (25), Jordan (23), Green (22), Lopez (19), Turner (19), Brown (18), Walker (18), Beal (16), DeRozan (16), White (15), Gordon (14), Harrell (14), Butler (13), George (13), Joe Harris (13), Lowry (13), Middleton (13), Mitchell (13), Hayward (12), Allen (6), Conley (6), Holiday (6), Randle (6), Brogdon (5), Grant (5), Young (5), Kuzma (3), Lillard (3), Wall (3), Adebayo (1), Griffin (1), Ingram (1), Leonard (1) and Oladipo (1). Additionally, Aldridge, Booker, Tobias Harris, LaVine, McGee, Mitchell Robinson, VanVleet and Williamson have participated in previous USA National Team training camps. Only Duncan Robinson and Wood have no prior USA Basketball experience.
The USA National Team’s complete training schedule for 2021 will be announced at a later date.
Tokyo Olympic Games
The rescheduled Summer Olympic Games are being held July 23-Aug. 8 in Tokyo, Japan. Twelve nations will compete in the Olympic men’s basketball competition that will be held at the Saitama Super Arena. In addition to host Japan, nations qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball competition include Argentina, Australia, France, Iran, Nigeria, Spain and the United States.
The final four teams for the Tokyo Olympics will qualify through four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. Twenty-four teams will compete in the four men’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, which will be held from June 29-July 4, in Victoria, Canada; Split, Croatia; Kaunas, Lithuania; and Belgrade, Serbia. The winner of each qualifying tournament will qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The six teams competing in Belgrade, Serbia, for an Olympic berth include in Group A: Dominican Republic, New Zealand and host Serbia; while Group B is comprised of Italy, Puerto Rico and Senegal. The Kaunas, Lithuania, Olympic qualifying site features in Group A, host Lithuania, South Korea and Venezuela; and Group B includes Angola, Poland and Slovenia. The Split, Croatia, Olympic qualifying game site will feature in Group A: Germany, Mexico and Russia; and Group B consists of Brazil, host Croatia and Tunisia. The fourth and final Olympic qualifying competition site is Victoria, Canada, and features in Group A, host Canada, China and Greece; and Group B includes Czech Republic, Turkey and Uruguay.
Men’s basketball preliminary play at the Olympics, which will see the 12 teams divided into three groups of four teams each, will be held July 25-Aug. 2. The quarterfinals, featuring teams placed first and second in each preliminary group and the two best third-placed teams in the preliminary group phase, is scheduled for Aug. 3. Semifinal action will be played on Aug. 5. The gold and bronze medal games are scheduled for Aug. 7.
The draw for the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball competition was held Feb. 2, and the U.S. was drawn into Group A alongside 2019 FIBA World Cup bronze medalist France, 2017 Asia Cup runner-up Iran, and the to-be-determined winner of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria, Canada.
The American men will open Olympic preliminary round play on July 25, against France (8 a.m. EDT), then will play Iran on July 28 (12:40 a.m. EDT) and will close out preliminary play on July 31 (8:00 a.m. EDT) versus the winner of the Canada Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The U.S. men have medaled in all 18 Olympics in which they have competed, including 15 gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals. The Americans own an impressive 138-5 all-time record (.963 winning percentage) in Olympic action, and since NBA players began representing the United States in 1992, the USA is 53-3 in seven Olympics, capturing six gold medals and one bronze medal.
Tokyo Awaits.
57 athletes, including 16 Olympians, are #USABMNT finalists for the @Tokyo2020 Olympic Games
»» https://t.co/PeJ8XsZT6V pic.twitter.com/YjXzGtRHM7
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) March 11, 2021
USA Basketball
Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and chaired by retired Gen. Martin Dempsey, USA Basketball is a nonprofit organization and the national governing body for basketball in the United States. As the recognized governing body for basketball in the U.S. by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), USA Basketball is responsible for the selection, training and fielding of USA national teams that compete in FIBA-sponsored five-on-five, 3×3 and esport international competitions, as well as for some national competitions and for the development of youth basketball initiative that address player development, coach education and safety, while promoting, growing and elevating the game.
Connect with USA Basketball at USAB.com and on Facebook (USABasketball, USABYouth), Twitter (@usabasketball, @USABJNT, @USABYouth, @USAB3x3), Instagram (@USABasketball, @USABYouth, @USAB3x3) and YouTube.com/usabasketball.
Post your comment
Visualizza commenti