41 stars on Olympic roster: USA nominates Team Monsters, but the bad boy is missing

41 stars on the Olympic roster
USA nominates the monster squad, but the bad boy is missing

January 24, 2024, 6:08 am

Top NBA stars have been saying for months that they want to compete in the Olympics. The US starting lineup now looks like an all-star lineup. However, the twelve-man squad for Paris will not be finalized until the spring.

The US Basketball Association announced a preliminary list of 41 players for the Olympic Games and, as expected, nominated the biggest names in the sport. The list published on Tuesday includes LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers' Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Stephen Curry of the Los Angeles Clippers. Golden State Warriors. Bad Boy Draymond Green was not nominated. The Warriors pro was recently suspended from the NBA after a punch.

Curry has never competed for the US team in the Olympics. If Durant is there in Paris and the United States wins the Olympic victory as expected, he will be the first basketball player in the world to be a four-time Olympic champion. Steve Kerr will coach the national team at the Olympic Games from the Golden State Warriors. His assistants are Ty Lue of the Clippers and Erik Spoelstra of the Heat.

The twelve-man squad for Paris will be finalized in the spring. The USA will then prepare with three test matches in July. In Las Vegas against Canada on July 10, then in London on July 20 against South Sudan, and on July 22 against world champion Germany.

A special case in the interim squad is Duncan Robinson of the Miami Heat, who is also interested in the three-on-three option and is in talks with the US Federation. “There's definitely an opportunity,” said Robinson, one of the NBA's best three-point shooters.