A star-studded roster of America's best basketball players has been assembled for the Paris Olympics, where Team USA will seek its fifth consecutive gold medal.
USA Basketball announced the men's Olympic team for Paris on Wednesday – LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, joel embiidJayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton, anthony edwards And Kawhi Leonard.
“We are grateful to these 12 individuals for their dedication to representing USA Basketball,” USA Basketball Managing Director Grant Hill said in a statement. “The United States is home to some of the best basketball players in the world, and we appreciate the tremendous interest in joining this roster. These decisions have not been easy, but we have gone through the process and are grateful for the tremendous interest in joining this roster. I'm glad I was able to reach that point.''
The United States has an incredible amount of talent on its roster. Seven of the 12 commits finished the season ranked among the top 15 in points per game in the NBA. James is the league's all-time leading scorer, Curry is the all-time leader in 3-point shooting, Haliburton won the title for assists per game this season, and 10 players were named All-Stars this season.
“We have the utmost respect for the level of competition we will face this summer,” Hill said. “The Olympics are the pinnacle of sports, and the world will be watching as the United States plays in the toughest basketball tournament in history.”
There are seven athletes in this group who have won a total of 10 Olympic gold medals. Durant has three, James has two, and Adebayo, Booker, Holiday, Tatum, and Booker each have one. The Paris games will be the first games for Curry, Leonard and Embiid. They chose to play for the U.S. national team after becoming American citizens last year. The Cameroon-born center could have been selected to represent France at the Paris Games.
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Durant is looking to history. If the American wins gold in Paris, he will become the first male athlete in Olympic history to win four gold medals in basketball.
He and Carmelo Anthony are the only male athletes to win three Olympic gold medals. The six female players, all American, have won at least four gold medals in Olympic basketball. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi each had five wins, and Teresa Edwards, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles and Lisa Leslie each had four wins.
The Americans have won the past four Olympic gold medals and remain ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA after missing out on medals at the last two World Cups. The team finished seventh in China in 2019 and fourth in Manila last summer.
While many other countries will be vying for gold in Paris, including hosts France, reigning World Cup champions Germany, Serbia and Canada, the U.S. roster will feature other nations competing for gold. There are so many NBA stars that the NBA cannot reach.
U.S. men's basketball athletes have participated in 19 Olympic Games, winning a total of 19 medals: 16 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze.
The Paris team will be coached by Steve Kerr and supported by Erik Spoelstra, Tyronn Lue and Mark Few.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
