A spot on the Team USA basketball roster opened on Wednesday after Los Angeles Clippers star forward Kawhi Leonard withdrew due to injuries sustained last season, an unfortunate blow for the national team. Leonard was originally chosen to be on Team USA over New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, a second-team All-NBA winner this past season.
“Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olympics over the past several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas. He felt ready to compete. However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it’s in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris,” USA Basketball said in a statement.
Following the statement, Team USA chose Celtics point guard Derrick White as a replacement, joining fellow Celtics Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday. Averaging 15.2 PPG and 39.6 percent from behind the 3-point line, White is overall a solid addition to the team. No players from the Knicks or Nets are a part of the roster.
Team USA, featuring stars such as all-time NBA scoring leader LeBron James, 3-point shooting master Stephen Curry, and young, dominant guard Anthony Edwards, is opening Olympic play against Serbia on July 28 in Lille, France.
Looking towards a fifth consecutive gold medal, Team USA is again the favorite to win the tournament. With so many NBA stars picking up the red-white-and-blue uniforms, there aren’t a lot of teams that can stop them.
Two countries to keep an eye on in the tournament besides the USA are Serbia, whose team includes three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, and Greece, with two-time MVP Giannas Antetokounmpo on their roster.
The host team of France features Victor Wembanyama, coming fresh off his Rookie of the Year win, and Rudy Gobert. These defensive powerhouses are expected to perform well for France.
