Team USA Men's Basketball Tracker: Durant, Tatum Headline Stars Committed to Tokyo
The pandemic robbed sports fans of countless events and championships, but maybe none more significant than the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. But now, a year later, the games are set to take place this summer and Team USA's men's basketball team is slowly but surely taking shape.
Training camp, now led by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, will start July 6 in Las Vegas with the roster expected to be announced later this week, according to The Athletic's Joe Vardon.
USA Basketball has won gold in the last three Olympics and is the favorite to do so again this summer as it yet again touts a roster full of NBA stars.
Here are the players who have reportedly committed to the U.S. basketball team so far:
- Damian Lillard, PG, Trail Blazers: Lillard has never competed in the Olympics before, but he is coming off one of his best NBA seasons to date and will take part on the team, per The Athletic's Shams Charania and Joe Vardon. He averaged 28.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 2020–21 with the Blazers, who lost in the first round of the playoffs.
- Jrue Holiday, PG, Bucks: Holiday, who is still playing in this postseason with the Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals, has committed to Team USA, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Holiday was named All-Defensive First Team and tied his career high in steals this season at 1.6 per game.
- Zach LaVine, SG, Bulls: LaVine's agent Nima Namakian told The Athletic that he has committed to join the 12-man Team USA roster for the Tokyo Olympics. LaVine averaged a career-high 27.4 points and 4.9 assists per game last season with Chicago.
- Devin Booker, SG, Suns: Booker has committed to the team, per ESPN. He is in the midst of leading the Suns throughout their Western Conference finals playoff run. He finished the regular season averaging 25.6 points, 4.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game.
- Bradley Beal, SG, Wizards: Beal will play in his first Olympics this year as well, per The Athletic. He led the league in scoring this season at 31.3 points per contest.
- Jayson Tatum, SF, Celtics: Tatum, 23, is already a two-time All-Star and will play in his first Olympics as well, per Yahoo Sports's Chris Haynes. Tatum was a member of the 2019 World Cup team and had a solid year in Boston. He averaged a career-high 26.4 points per game.
- Kevin Durant, SF, Nets: Durant is no stranger to the Olympics—having won gold in 2012 and '16. He will join the team and go for his third gold medal, according to The Athletic. He averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game this season.
- Khris Middleton, SF, Bucks: Middleton's agent, Mike Lindeman, told ESPN that the 29 year-old is committing to Team USA and will play in his first Olympics this summer. He averaged 20.4 points this season with his team still alive in the Eastern Conference finals.
- Jerami Grant, SF, Pistons: Grant was the last player to commit to Team USA, per The Athletic. Although he's never played in the Olympics or appeared in an All-Star game, Grant is coming off his best season to date. He averaged a career-high 22.3 points per game this past season in Detroit.
- Kevin Love, PF, Cavaliers: Love, who won gold at the 2012 Olympics, has committed to the 12-man roster, his agent told ESPN. Love averaged 12.2 points this past season with Cleveland—the lowest since his rookie year—and missed significant time due to injury.
- Draymond Green, PF, Warriors: Green won gold as part of the 2016 team and has committed to this year's Olympics, per The Athletic. This past season was yet again a stellar one for Green defensively. He was a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year Award and was named to the All-Defensive First Team.
- Bam Adebayo, C, Heat: The Heat big man has joined Team USA and will compete in his first Olympics, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The 23-year-old averaged a career-high 18.7 points this season and was named to the All-Defensive Second Team.
Here are some notable players to opt out of the Olympics:
- Stephen Curry, PG, Warriors: One of three finalists for MVP this year, Curry will skip this year's Olympics, per The Athletic.
- Donovan Mitchell, PG, Jazz: Mitchell led his team to the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference, but he will opt out of the Olympics to recover and rehab from an ankle injury, according to ESPN.
- Chris Paul, PG, Suns: USA Basketball has known Paul was trending toward not playing in the Olympics for a few days, according to ESPN. The Suns guard elected to decline the invitation because of the short turnaround if the Suns make the NBA Finals.
- James Harden, SG, Nets: Harden originally committed to the team but has since withdrawn his name, according to The Athletic. Harden has been dealing with a nagging right hamstring strain since the regular season and has opted to recover.
- Jimmy Butler, SF, Heat: Butler will opt to rest this summer and has declined the trip to Tokyo this summer, per the Miami Herald's Anthony Chiang.
- LeBron James, SF, Lakers: After an early playoff exit, James confirmed that the only thing he was focusing on this offseason was promoting his upcoming Space Jam sequel and recovering for next season.
- Anthony Davis, PF, Lakers: Davis is not expected to commit to Team USA basketball this summer, per The Athletic's Joe Vardon. Davis was at the mercy of a groin injury at the end of this season and will likely use the summer to rest.
- Kyle Lowry, PG, Raptors: Lowry declined an invitation to join Team USA in the Tokyo Games due to his impending free agency this summer, according to ESPN.
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