The Americans are apparently sending two gloves, two great guys and one player who “hasn’t played much of anything over these last couple years” to defend their Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball next month at the Tokyo games.
Jerry Colangelo, the managing director for Team USA in his final Olympics, spoke about 11 of the 12 players the Americans picked for their star-studded Olympic team that was formally announced Monday. There was no news about who is on the team — it has been widely reported that Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Golden State’s Draymond Green, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Washington’s Bradley Beal, Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, Detroit’s Jerami Grant and Cleveland’s Kevin Love would be the men chasing gold.
Advertisem*nt
But Colangelo, who has served Team USA in this capacity since 2005 and has never put together an Olympic team to win less than gold (2008, 2012, 2016), offered some insight as to who will likely carry the load for the Americans, who will probably cheering on the bench and why Love, a past gold medalist whose career has stalled with the Cavs, made the team. Based on his remarks, it’s easy to envision a starting lineup of Durant, Tatum, Green, Lillard and either Booker or Beal. You’ll see below.
Fascinating stuff when considering here’s one man, offering opinions on players who have won a combined six NBA titles, four Olympic golds, an NBA MVP, four current All-Stars, two current All-NBA selections and three NBA All-Defense honorees. Colangelo made it sound like he was listing off the reasons 12 juniors and seniors made the Hickory High varsity squad.
“I think we’ve put together a strong team to represent the United States,” he said.
Here is what Colangelo had to say about the American 12 (well, 11, for some reason he wasn’t asked about Middleton, one of two holdovers from the 2019 team who happened to ball out in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday night), with training camp in Las Vegas set for July 6, followed by five exhibition games starting July 10 and then six games in Tokyo with gold on the line.
COLANGELO ON LOVE: “The best reason to say ‘why Kevin Love is an extra big’ was because of his international experience. Yes it’s true, he hasn’t played much of anything over these last couple years, but, the skills that he does bring to the table, the commitment that he’s made regarding physical conditioning, he’s a versatile guy up front who can rebound and hit shots. Who is to say how many minutes people are going to play? You’re not playing 12 players. And so it was a matter of filling out the roster with role players.”
Advertisem*nt
Love, a 2012 gold medalist, is a floor-spacing big who can be a killer on the defensive glass. The Americans have no one like him. But also, he has played in just 103 of a possible 219 games over the last three seasons in Cleveland and is coming off his worst year as a pro.
ON DURANT: “This guy is a very, very special individual in my opinion. … He’s always had this great enthusiasm, for playing USA basketball, for playing the game of basketball. He’s been in my opinion a real warrior, I love the guy as a player, I love him as a person, and the fact he stepped up to commit himself as he did didn’t surprise me. I was very very pleased because he’s a very very important part of our potential success.”
Durant, 32, has two Olympic golds, is Team USA’s second all-time leading scorer for total points, and leads the Americans all time in scoring average (19.4 ppg). He also missed all of the 2019-20 season recovering from Achilles surgery, and played in just 35 games this season due to leg injuries and COVID-19 protocol, but scored 48 points in his final game with Brooklyn in the playoffs.
ON TATUM: “A couple years ago we lost in the World Cup, and that was disappointing, but we had two injuries that cost us. One of them was to Tatum. I think he is very very important to this team. I think he has continued to develop. He was one of the early players who reached out to me, and I mean months ago, to express his commitment and desire to participate on the Olympic team. His length, his scoring ability … I like him a lot. I think he can be very very vital and a main guy for us.”
Tatum did indeed sprain his ankle early at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China, where the Americans finished a worst-in-program-history seventh. His 26.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game for the Celtics this season were career highs, and he was an All-Star for the second time.
Advertisem*nt
ON GREEN: “In conversation with Steve (Kerr), his opinion is he’s as good a big man defender as there is in basketball and it doesn’t matter how big (of a player) he’s defending against. He’s as smart as they come defensively, he’s aggressive, he just knows how to play. So much of what he does doesn’t reflect itself in numbers in terms of a stat sheet. He’s a winner, he’s a competitor, he has a toughness that you must have on every team and he can flat out defend. I think you’ll see him matched up against a lot of big guys that we’ll be playing against.”
Green, 31, a 2016 Olympic gold winner and three-time NBA champion, was a first-team All-Defense selection and also set a career high with 8.9 assists this season for the Warriors. And yep, he has the attitude (and the receipts from all his player fines to prove it).
ON LILLARD: “Damian came very close to being with us a few years ago and I think he was disappointed that it didn’t happen. There are always some disappointed people but he handled it gracefully, in a very professional way, and I was always hopeful that we would have an opportunity to re-engage, and of course, this is the time we are re-engaging. He’s another one that’s just had an incredible career. When I say he’s a big-time scorer, that’s an understatement. I would love to have him on our team at any time, and I am very very pleased that he will be a big part of our efforts.”
Lillard was a late cut from Team USA’s 2014 World Cup team and did not play in the ’16 Olympics either. He has averaged nearly 29.5 ppg over the last two seasons and enjoyed eight games (regular season and playoffs) with at least 40 points scored. And he just might make some off-court news while he’s with Team USA, too.
ON BOOKER: “Booker has developed into a real star in my opinion, and it’s an incredible story when you think that he never started in college. I’m hopeful this injury, the broken nose, is not going to be an impactful situation for him. Hopefully Devin will be able to get over that hump, but there are so many parts of his game now where he can contribute. I am very excited and happy for him to get the opportunity.”
Booker is playing with a broken nose, suffered early in the Western Conference finals. He’s also one of three players (Middleton and Holiday are the other two) who could play in the NBA Finals before headed to Tokyo. I’ve written previously about this potential time crunch. Booker is averaging 27.1 points for the Suns in the playoffs.
ON BEAL: “Always had a lot of interest in Bradley Beal, and I think he’s a classic example of a guy who has really upgraded his game. He’s gotten better and better each year. That’s my two cents worth on him. I think he’s a big-time scorer, another guy capable of big numbers. He competes. I think he’s a great guy. I think he’ll fit like a glove on this team and gives us that additional firepower.”
Advertisem*nt
Beal was second in the NBA in scoring this season at a career-best 31.3 ppg for the Wizards and is a career .377 3-point shooter. He has averaged at least 30 points for the last two years. Beal was considering playing for the Americans in 2019 but removed himself from the roster due to the birth of his child.
ON ADEBAYO: “Bam, we’ve always liked. He’s a young, athletic guy, he can run the court, he’s a shot blocker, he plays above the rim. And so, you know, a young guy like that is very, very important. Everyone has a role and he has a specific job to do, and I’m sure he’ll do it very well.”
Adebayo turns 24 at the end of Team USA’s preseason (July 18). He is coming off a career season with 18.7 points (career high), 9.0 boards, and 5.4 assists (career best) for the Heat, with whom he competed in the 2020 NBA Finals. He and Love are the only things close to “traditional” bigs on this roster.
ON HOLIDAY: “A great guy, a terrific defender, he’s received NBA recognition for his defensive prowess. I think he’s a contributor. He’ll do whatever is asked of him. He’s kind of a glue player is the way I would describe him. Very excited to be part of our roster and I’m looking forward to getting to know him a lot more as we join up, if not sooner then certainly in Tokyo.”
Holiday joins Green as the two Team USAers who were first-team All-Defense picks this season. His wife, Lauren Cheney, won two Olympic golds as part of the women’s soccer team. Holiday, in his first season with the Bucks, is a former All-Star and third scorer in Milwaukee behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and Middleton.
ON LAVINE: “The one thing we had going for us is we’ve had I’ll say two years to look at players we had some interest in. Zach has come a long way in terms of his game. He’s a freak athlete in that sense. Capable of going off and putting some big numbers out there. He’s full of enthusiasm. When he and I spoke on the phone, he almost jumped through the phone, he was so excited about the opportunity. And I love that. When you have a few people who maybe didn’t expect to be there who are just so exuberant about the opportunity, they add a lot of juice to the whole situation, and that’s where he falls. He’ll make a contribution for whatever amount of time he may get, he’s going to be there ready to go, and he’s going to push some people. And I like that.”
LaVine, 26, is coming off a career season for the Bulls in which he set high marks for points (27.4 ppg), assists (4.9), rebounds (5.0), and 3-point percentage (.419). Colangelo made it sound like playing time might be tough to come by for him. We’ll see.
Advertisem*nt
ON GRANT: “He’s an athlete, he’s long, and I think length is an important ingredient when you’re looking at players who play certain positions. He’s become a really good scorer, so versatility is the key and, by the way, I think that’s the trademark of this group. Players who can play a couple of positions, some of them even three positions. I think he fits in just like a glove and I think we will have a lot of depth on this team because of that versatility.”
Grant, 28, is a 6-8 forward whose scoring totals erupted (22.3 ppg) in his first season with the Pistons. He’d never averaged more than 13.6 points in any previous campaign. Grant is on the team after James Harden backed out due to injury. Colangelo said the IOC and FIBA have relaxed the rigid rules for roster replacements, adding more time to the deadline to make changes than in past Olympics.
(Photo of Draymond Green and Kevin Durant: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
