Team USA’s 2024 Olympics Basketball Team was officially announced on Wednesday. LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant headline the roster as expected, while most of the reported names are on the team. There was one roster spot open, per reports. LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard has made the team to complete the 12-man roster.
Here’s how Team USA will line up at the 2024 Paris Olympics:
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LeBron James will mark his return to Team USA after 12 years. He won the gold medal twice, in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London. Meanwhile, this will be Kevin Durant’s fourth consecutive appearance at the Olympics and Steph Curry’s debut.
Meanwhile, Tyrese Haliburton and Anthony Edwards are the only players retained by Team USA from the team that played the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Bam Adebayo will join Durant for a second consecutive time in the Olympics. Joel Embiid will be making his Team USA debut after he ditched playing for France and his home country of Cameroon.
It could arguably be the best team assembled by Team USA for the Olympics. The approach to recruiting the big names was inspired by the interest these players showed after the Americans settled for a fourth-place finish in the FIBA World Cup, struggling heavily against European teams.
Team USA Basketball to field experienced lineup in hopes of achieving Gold
Team USA is no longer the only dominant force in basketball. The sport has picked up globally, and several teams have caught up. The Americans felt that when they deployed relatively inexperienced lineups during the 2019 and 2023 FIBA World Cups. The USA finished seventh in 2019 and fourth last year.
Anthony Edwards was the biggest name on that team, including several role players from across the NBA. The situation’s different this time, with LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant leading the charge. While Curry doesn’t have experience at the Olympic level, he was part of the FIBA World Cup roster in 2010 and 2014, where the USA won the gold.
The biggest benefit the Americans have this time is adding size to their roster with the additions of Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo. The physicality and tenacity are something they lacked, even during the 2020 Olympics gold medal run, which seems to be taken care of this time.
The star-studded lineup will undoubtedly enter the tournament as the favorites, but it remains to be seen how well they can mesh, as several players will be taking to the floor together for the first time.
