By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Far from a first, Team USA is set to possibly receive numerous upgrades navigating from the FIBA World Cup to the Olympic Games.
LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, and Draymond Green are among the players planning to commit to playing for the United States in next summer’s Olympic Games, according to The Athletic. Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, De’Aaron Fox, and Kyrie Irving were also mentioned as showing interest in being part of the squad.
Besides planning to compete in the Olympics for the third and presumably last time in his career, James has been essentially recruiting the aforementioned players to join him on Team USA next summer, per the report.
The USA was indeed expected to present more household names in the Olympic Games, even before the disappointing showing in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The team coached by Steve Kerr was held to fourth place missing out on the podium for a second straight edition of FIBA’s flagship event, following the seventh-place finish in 2019. In contrast to recent World Cup struggles, the United States captured gold medals over the last four Olympic Games.
The United States along with Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Serbia, and South Sudan clinched a berth in the 2024 Olympic Games through the World Cup held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia. Previously, host France got an automatic berth. The remaining four spots will be decided in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
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