After the names of almost the entire roster of the men’s basketball team were leaked, USA Basketball made official the 12 players who will go to Paris 2024 in search of a new gold medal at the Olympic Games.
The new Dream Team will be made up of a constellation of stars led by LeBron James, the leading scorer in NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers forward will be the centerpiece of a team that will also have Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, two of the best players of the last decade. The Golden State Warriors shooter and the Phoenix Suns player will be joined by the latest Most Valuable Player of the best basketball league in the world, Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers).
They will be accompanied by Anthony Davis (Lakers), Devin Booker (Suns), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday (Boston Celtics), Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers) and Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Clippers guard who was the last to be announced in the official presentation.
It must be remembered that Steve Kerr, a multiple champion as a coach with the Warriors and who knew how to win three rings as a player alongside Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls with a key role as an expert shooter, will be the coach who will lead this luxury team. “My staff and I are honored to coach this incredible group of players in our pursuit of Olympic gold in Paris,” he said.
“We plan to represent USA Basketball in the highest class and hope to make our country proud,” added Kerr, who will have a team that has a total of 11 Olympic appearances among the players and 10 Olympic gold medals. In total, the United States will bring four MVPs, six champions and 12 who performed in the NBA All-Star Game to Paris 2024.
“I am grateful to these 12 men for their commitment to representing USA Basketball. The United States is home to some of the best basketball players in the world and I appreciate the great interest in being part of this list. These decisions have not been easy, but it has been a pleasure to go through the process and reach this result,” said Grant Hill, team sporting director.
“We have the utmost respect for the level of competition we will face this summer. The Olympic Games represent the pinnacle of sport and the world will be watching the USA as we play in the toughest basketball tournament in history,” added the former player who starred for teams such as the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic.
The United States will become the rival to beat in the Olympic competition, in which it is the biggest winner in history and has just won the last four gold medals (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020). On the list, Durant is the only player to win three golds (he shares the record with Carmelo Anthony), while Curry never had the Olympic experience. LeBron, meanwhile, has three medals: a bronze in Athens 2004 and two gold: Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Since the famous Dream Team of 1992, with Michael Jordan at the helm, the United States basketball team has won gold in all the Olympic Games, including the 2008 one with the Redeem Team, except in Athens 2004, when it won the historic Argentine team led by Rubén Magnano.
The USA will be one of the representatives of America in Paris 2024 along with Canada, which was third in the last World Cup. The rest of those classified for the Olympic event (four places remain in the repechages) at the moment are: France (organizing country), Germany (world champion), Serbia (runner-up), Australia (best in Oceania), South Sudan ( best in Africa) and Japan (best in Asia).
The North American team has already confirmed a series of preparatory friendlies for the Olympic event that will help Kerr define the 12 members that will make up the final squad. On July 10 they will face Canada in Las Vegas and then travel to London to face South Sudan (07/20) and Germany (07/22).
As part of Group C, the new version of the Dream Team will play against Serbia on July 28 and will face South Sudan (July 31) and will close the group stage with the winner of the Olympic Qualification Tournament to be played in Puerto Rico (August 3rd). Olympic basketball will take place in Lille, France, before the tournament moves to Paris for the knockout rounds and medal matches.
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