After watching Team USA struggle in the FIBA World Cup last summer, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James began a charge to get the best American players to commit to the team for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Among the players James was able to successfully recruit is his teammate Anthony Davis and other legends like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Additionally, Team USA also got a commitment from Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, adding even more firepower to a star-studded roster.
Team USA was faced with a problem, but a good one, as they announced 41 finalists for the 2024 Olympic roster and it included some of the best players in the NBA. Narrowing it down to just 12 players was certainly a challenge, especially with James and some of the other veterans remaining committed.
It appears that Grant Hill, head coach Steve Kerr and the rest of the Team USA staff has indeed cut the roster down as 11 of the team members have been named and both James and Davis were unsurprisingly included, via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
ESPN Sources: USA Basketball is finalizing its 2024 Paris Olympics roster with Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis. Team may initially keep one open spot. pic.twitter.com/kO7TREBVDK
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 15, 2024
Even with one spot still available, this is a complete roster for Team USA that isn’t missing much. There is star power at every position, led by James, Curry, Embiid and Durant, who will likely be four of the starters.
They have guys that can lock down defensively with Davis, Bam Adebayo and Jrue Holiday. They have plenty of shooting with Curry, Durant, Tatum and Haliburton. They also have a ton of playmaking and scoring in the backcourt, as well as on the interior.
If there is one thing that Team USA can still use, it may be another big wing defender with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Jimmy Butler all making sense there. Lakers guard Austin Reaves is also among the finalists, so maybe he finds a way to sneak onto the roster after an impressive run with Team USA last summer.
Lakers stars & others need to get through playoffs healthy first
With the NBA playoffs still to take place though, it’s worth nothing that some of these guys could end up bowing out if their team makes a deep run this summer. The Olympics begin in July, which is a short turnaround after the NBA Finals.
If James and Davis both end up playing though then it will mark the first Olympics since 2012 for both.
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