Team USA Basketball, through Managing Director and former player Grant Hill, released an immensely star-studded list of NBA superstars on Wednesday as their 12-man team to the Paris 2024 Games.
Four-time NBA champions LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant will headline the United States men’s Olympic team. Other names on the roster include Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), and Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers).
Hill, who is a seven-time All-Star in his playing days, said they assembled the ‘iconic roster’ to give themselves a chance at winning.
“We’re giving ourselves a chance to win with the talent we have,” Hill said. “It’ll be exciting. It’ll be tough. It won’t be easy. We have great respect for all the other teams. But certainly, this is going to be an iconic roster.”
Greatness Unites.
The 2024 USA Men’s National Team is here.
🇺🇸 #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/I2jOLsrcQv
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) April 17, 2024
The team, which will be led by Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr as head coach, with Erik Spoelstra (Heat), Tyronn Lue (Clippers), and Mark Few of Gonzaga University all as his assistants, has seven players with a combined ten Olympic gold medals.
Durant has won three gold medals; James, who returns to the Games for the first time since 2012, has two; and the quintet of Adebayo, Davis, Holiday, Tatum, and Booker all have one each.
Curry, Embiid, Haliburton, Edwards, and Leonard will all be making their Olympic debuts in Paris.
The United States men’s team ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA, has won the last four Olympic gold medals. They have 19 total medals in the Games: 16 golds, one silver, and two bronzes.
Despite the amount of talent in the NBA, the US men’s team has failed to win a medal in their last two FIBA World Cups, having finished seventh in 2019 in China and fourth in Manila last year.
Their most recent unsuccessful quest in the Philippines probably fuelled their desire to handpick the best of the best basketball stars in the world in a quest to win a fifth straight Olympic gold medal, and barring any injuries or last-minute pullouts, they are surely tipped to retain their title.
