On Thursday, the USA Basketball Men’s National Basketball Team announced the full list of 57 finalists that they would be considered for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
15 of the finalists were added to the 2021 USA National Team roster on Thursday, with U.S. Men’s National Basketball Team managing director Jerry Colangelo revealing the rationale for an expanded field of finalists in an official press release:
“With the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics from 2020 to 2021, it’s important that we continue to remain flexible and consider all players who can contribute to our efforts to field the best USA team possible. These additions we are announcing today will help ensure that we are doing that.”
The 15 finalists that were added to the original list of 42 players is as follows:
Center Jarrett Allen (Cleveland Cavaliers); guard Eric Gordon (Houston Rockets); forward Jerami Grant (Detroit Pistons); forward Blake Griffin (Brooklyn Nets); guard Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks); center DeAndre Jordan (Brooklyn Nets); guard Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls); forward Julius Randle (New York Knicks); forward Duncan Robinson (Miami Heat); center Mitchell Robinson (New York Knicks); Guard Fred VanVleet (Toronto Raptors); guard John Wall (Houston Rockets); forward Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans); center Christian Wood (Houston Rockets); and guard Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks).
Among the 57 finalists, 29 players have participated in international competition, whether it was the Olympic Games or a FIBA World Cup. This includes 11 players who were represented on the 2019 FIBA World Cup roster.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, who remains noncommittal about playing in the upcoming Olympic Games, has the most Olympic appearances in the player pool, appearing on the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic rosters.
Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul and Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant both have two Olympic appearances each.
Of the 57 players, only two have never represented the United States internationally or participated in a United States Basketball training session: Wood and Robinson.
Meanwhile, only 24 of the NBA’s 30 teams are represented in the player pool, with only the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder not represented.
The U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team will be coached by San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, with Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Villanova head coach Jay Wright and former Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce joining him on the bench as assistants.
The 2021 Olympic Games are scheduled to take place from Jul. 23 – Aug. 8 in Tokyo, Japan.
