The U.S. Olympic men's basketball team will be seeking a fifth consecutive gold medal in Paris without six-time NBA All-Star Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard withdrew from Team USA on Wednesday due to injury concerns following right knee surgery that has sidelined him in most key games over the past four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The decision to replace Leonard came from management. Boston guard Derrick White was added to the 12-man squad and is expected to join the team for two exhibition games in Abu Dhabi next week.
“Kawhi has continued to prepare for the Olympics over the past few weeks, engaging in several rigorous practices in Las Vegas,” the U.S. team said in a statement Wednesday.
“He felt he was ready to compete. However, he respects the decision of the United States Basketball Association and the Clippers to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for next season rather than competing in the Paris Olympics.”
According to a Los Angeles Times source, Team USA managing director Grant Hill, Team USA coach Steve Kerr and Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank observed Leonard's recent workout at the Clippers' training facility in Los Angeles and were concerned about his participation.
The U.S. team, which has won all five Olympic Games since losing to Manu Genobili's Argentina in 2004, also has concerns about player Kevin Durant, who has not participated in contact training because of a calf strain. The U.S. team began practicing Saturday in Las Vegas.
Durant did not play in the opening friendly against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Canada on Wednesday night, but he should have plenty of time to recover before the start of Olympic Group C pool play against Nikola Jokic's Serbia on July 28.
The U.S. team will play exhibition games against Australia in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Serbia on Wednesday, as well as exhibition games against South Sudan and Germany in London on July 20 and 22.
“Following a championship season in Boston, I'm pleased to announce that Derrick will be competing in his first Olympic Games,” Hill said. “I want to thank Kawhi for his commitment to the U.S. Men's National Team.”
“While he has earned the opportunity to represent the United States, the United States Basketball Association and Clippers leadership felt it was important to ensure Kawhi was prepared for the NBA season.”
While disappointing for Leonard, the move wasn't entirely unexpected given that he has struggled to stay on the court since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the 2021 playoffs.
Leonard, 33, appeared in 68 games in 2023-24, the most in his five seasons with the Clippers, but missed the final eight games of the regular season with knee inflammation and only two of the team's six first-round playoff games against Dallas, who won the Western Conference title.
He first suffered the injury during the team's second-round playoff series win over Utah in 2021 and did not play in the Western Conference finals against Phoenix, which the Suns won in six games.
Leonard missed the 2021-22 season due to surgery and appeared in just five of the Clippers' first 24 games this season. He played most of the remainder of the season on scheduled maintenance days, but tore the meniscus in his right knee in Game 2 of their playoff series against the Suns and missed the Final Four.
He signed a three-year, $149.51 million contract extension with the Clippers on January 10 and averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game while being selected to his sixth NBA All-Star team.
Leonard was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016, and his contributions on that side of the ball may be the hardest to replace on a star-studded team that also includes LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards and Anthony Davis.
Los Angeles Lakers center Davis was named to the NBA All-Defensive first team this season while guard White was a second-team selection each of the past two seasons. White signed a four-year, $126 million contract extension with Boston after helping the Celtics win the NBA title.
Durant is also one of the best defenders on a Team USA team that could face off against not only Jokic but Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo and France's twin towers, Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year.