Sports
USA Basketball announces men’s team lineup for the Paris Olympics
USA Basketball studied every men’s basketball game it played in for about twenty years, and a transparent trend eventually emerged. When the defense is not adequate, the Americans are likely to get into trouble.
With this in mind, the team for the Paris Olympics was created.
LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards and Kawhi Leonard were officially announced as members of the U.S. Olympic team on Wednesday – a bunch with nearly 200,000 NBA points, 84 All-Star appearances and 10 Olympic gold medals.
“You obviously need talent, but you want players who can fit in, fit in and can play the specific roles that you need,” USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill said Wednesday. “But I think defense was definitely a priority and having players who could lock down and defend a lot of sets in possession.”
The pondering is easy: Scoring should not be an issue, and if the defense does its job, the Americans – trying to win a fifth straight Olympic gold medal – can be hard to beat.
The group includes seven players with gold medals; Durant has three, James has two, and Adebayo, Booker, Holiday, Tatum and Booker each have one. A complete of 12 players averaged 24.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists during the season, and was 39% effective from three-point range.
“Of course, it is a great honor to represent your country,” Adebayo said. “But for me to be in this room as part of these 12 players who they say are the best 12 players to represent the United States, it’s a whole other level.”
The amount of talent on the American roster is astounding. Of the 12 chosen, seven finished the season ranked amongst the NBA’s top 15 per-game scorers. James is the league’s all-time scoring leader, Curry is the all-time three-pointer leader, Haliburton won the league title in assists per game this season, and 10 of them were All-Stars this season as well.
“The goal is to win gold,” Hill said. “They know it.”
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The timing of Wednesday’s announcement coincided with the U.S. Olympic Summit in New York and as Americans celebrated the start of the 100-day countdown to the opening ceremony in Paris. USA Basketball could have waited longer to make the announcement, but it surely didn’t see the point.
“There will be a lot of interest and a lot of people who will want to join us on this incredible journey that we will soon be on,” Hill said. “So if we know, why wait?”
The Americans remain No. 1 in the FIBA rankings in the world even after failing to medal in the last two World Cups – ending seventh in China in 2019 and fourth in Manila last summer.
They won gold at the Tokyo Olympics defeating France 87-82. Plenty of other countries can be vying for gold in Paris – host France amongst them, reigning world champions Germany, Serbia and Canada – but the U.S. squad is stacked with NBA stars that no other country can match.
“You hope they’ve never played together before,” Canadian Kelly Olynyk said when told about the U.S. lineup this weekend, “except for the last 12 All-Star games.”
Hill led the task of assembling the squad, which took about 18 months, and the whole plan was to finish the team well before training camp began in Las Vegas in early July. Players received the jerseys during visits by Hill or other USA Basketball officials in recent days, and in some cases received them during practices with their team.
“The common theme when we lost was not defending well enough,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “It doesn’t sound like anything earth-shattering. We feel we will score points. We’ll have plenty of talent and we’ll find a way to score. But the international game is more physical and we have addressed that.”
Durant has been saying since last yr that he planned to play, which suggests he’ll aim to turn out to be the first male Olympic athlete in history to win 4 basketball gold medals. He and Carmelo Anthony are the only male athletes with three Olympic gold medals; there are six women, all Americans, who’ve at the least 4 Olympic gold medals in basketball. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi each scored five, while Teresa Edwards, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles and Lisa Leslie each scored 4.
James can be in search of his fourth medal after winning bronze in 2004 and gold in 2008 and 2012. His other gold medalists include Davis (2012), Adebayo (2020), Booker (2020), Tatum (2020) and Holiday ( 2020). The 2020 gold medals were won in 2021 as the Covid-19 pandemic forced a year-long delay of the Tokyo Games.
Curry will play in the Olympics for the first time, as did Leonard and Embiid, who decided to play for the United States last yr after becoming American residents. The Cameroon-born center could also represent France at the Paris Games.
The other latest Olympians on the current squad are Haliburton and Edwards, each of whom played for the U.S. team that finished fourth at the World Cup in Manila last yr.
“I definitely wanted that experience,” Curry said. “I think the time is right.”
Over 40 players were considered for the team. Creating a squad of 12 players was difficult.
“I think everyone understands that these Olympics are going to be perhaps the most anticipated, given that it’s Paris, in terms of athletes wanting to go, players’ wives wanting to go, and everyone wanting to go,” Kerr said. “It definitely caused some really difficult decisions for us.”
Durant and Curry said in October that they desired to play this summer, Adebayo said then that he had already committed to the team and the assumption for a while was that if players like James desired to play, all that they had to do was say So.
American men have competed in basketball at the Olympic Games 19 times, winning 19 medals – 16 gold, one silver and two bronze.
Kerr can be the coach of the Parisian team, accompanied by Erik Spoelstra, Tyronn Lue and Mark Few. It’s still possible the roster could change before the summer if injuries or deep runs in the NBA playoffs force players to alter their minds about committing to the national team.
“We have a contingency plan,” Hill said, “and we have it at every position.”
NFL Hall of Fame receiver and podcast host Terrell Owens has signed with a talent agency to further strengthen his claims within the entertainment game.
According to , Owens was signed by SMAC Entertainment, headed by host and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and his business partner Constance Schwartz-Morini.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz has also joined SMAC Entertainment.
“We are excited to add TO and Jordan to the SMAC family. They are both at the top of their game and set the standard in their industry,” Schwartz-Morini said in a written statement. “TO and Jordan have already brought an infectious energy to our team, and we are excited to help them realize their vision for careers in media, business and branding.”
A five-time first-team All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler, Owens played for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. In 2018, he was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A member of the 2000 NFL All-Decade Team, Owens finished his profession with 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards, 14.8 yards per catch and 153 touchdowns, rating third all-time in receiving yards and touchdowns.
Since retiring from skilled soccer in 2012, Owens has already made several moves. He has appeared in several movies and tv shows, including “,” and in addition had his own reality show, “, on VH1.
He currently co-hosts the podcast with former NFL player and sports analyst Shannon Sharpe.
SMAC Entertainment is home to stars similar to rapper and actor Common, Wiz Khalifa, Strahan, Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and current NFL players similar to Stefon Diggs and DK Metcalf.
Sports
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker brings an NBA championship desire with his Olympic experience
The gold medal went to the USA Basketball team. Mission completed on the 2024 Paris Games. U.S. men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr just answered his final query during his final news conference on Aug. 10 after his team defeated France within the gold medal game.
However, before leaving the stage of the press conference in Paris, Kerr stopped to deliver an unsolicited message to media around the globe.
“Devin Booker is an amazing basketball player. Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just desired to say that,” Kerr said.
The “underrated MVP” compliment meant so much to the Phoenix Suns guard.
“It meant everything. No one really asked him,” Booker recently told Andscape. “That was probably something that was weighing on his mind throughout the entire process. A 12 months ago I said what I desired to do for this team and what we desired to do for the country.
“It was a lot larger than all of us. Survival was something we’d discuss for the remainder of our lives.
The USA Basketball team was centered around NBA star icons LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. There has also been some discussion amongst media and fans in regards to the lack of playing time for Jayson Tatum and, to a lesser extent, Tyrese Haliburton. Lost within the shuffle was the all-around, unselfish play of sharpshooter Booker wearing the armband.
Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images
Booker was fourth in scoring for the U.S., averaging 11.7 points, 3.3 assists and a couple of.2 three-pointers made early in all six Olympics, and likewise had the perfect plus/minus (plus-130) for an American. Kerr was impressed with Booker’s deal with a difficult defense, regardless that he is thought for his offense, ball movement and the way he has adjusted to not being one in every of the highest options on offense.
“I just understood what was at stake,” Booker said. “I’m proud to be from this country. I’m happy with playing basketball. Even though it wasn’t invented in America, we dominated for a very long time. Obviously the world is incredibly talented and the sport is growing, however it was just one other message to allow them to know who we’re.
Booker said he also learned in regards to the preparations from his all-star team, watching the preparations on and off the court. The 28-year-old added that he gained lifelong friendships.
“It’s cool to see that everyone has their own issues,” Booker said. “In my 10 years in the NBA, I’ve learned that you have to choose what you can use for yourself. But the level of detail, the attention to detail, the intensity – it’s all consistent across the board.”
As for Durant, Booker said the bond between the 2 Sun stars “is close and grows stronger every day.” They live about five minutes from one another within the Phoenix area and commonly spend time at home and on the road. Most recently, Booker had to steer the Suns without Durant, who was sidelined with an injury.
The amazing Durant averaged 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and three.4 assists, which were tops for the Suns. However, the 14-time NBA All-Star has been sidelined since November 8 with a left calf strain. Suns players Bradley Beal (calf) and Jusuf Nurkic (ankle) were also sidelined. The Suns are 1-5 without Durant, which incorporates 4 straight losses.
Booker and Suns sans Durant’s next rivals shall be the New York Knicks on Wednesday evening (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET). Over the last six games, Booker is averaging 24.1 points, shooting 43.2% from the sphere and making 16 of 43 three-pointers. Suns guard Tyus Jones said there was numerous pressure on Booker offensively due to the injury.
“We’re asking a lot of Book,” Jones said after Monday’s 109-99 loss to the visiting Orlando Magic. “It’s numerous pressure for him. We are very focused on it. They are physical with him, holding him and grabbing him, throwing two or three bodies at him all night long. So he’s got so much on his plate and we just need to proceed to seek out ways to get him open within the moments we will and proceed to assist him when other players are taking shots and making plays.
Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
Booker currently has two Olympic gold medals, 4 NBA All-Star appearances and one NBA Finals appearance. The only thing missing from the Suns’ second-leading all-time scorer is an NBA championship. Since the Suns joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1968, they’ve yet to win a title.
After experiencing the joys of winning a gold medal, Booker as an NBA champion wants the gold Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy much more.
“Most of the guys that were there did it,” Booker said of his Olympic teammates who were NBA champions. “They were champions. This is standard for them. Anything lower than that, they need nothing to do with it. It’s contagious…
“That’s all I want. That’s all I want.”
After months of introducing the players and coaches who will participate in its inaugural season, the brand new Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league announced its team rosters and coaching assignments on Wednesday.
Founded by WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, Unrivaled consists of six teams of six players each. The league was created to offer WNBA players with a substitute for playing overseas in the course of the offseason.
Although initially announced as having 30 players, the league has since expanded to 36, which Collier attributed “above financial forecasts”. The league has announced 34 players publicly up to now.
The inaugural season of Unrivaled will begin on January 17, 2025, with all games going down in Miami. Here are the official teams for the inaugural season, as well season schedule.
Vinyl Basketball Club:
– Coach: Teresa Weatherspoon
Rose Basketball Club:
– Coach: Nola Henry
Mgła basketball club:
– Coach: Phil Handy
Lunar Owls Basketball Club:
– TBD: wild card
– Coach: DJ Sackmann
Phantom Basketball Club:
– TBD: wild card
– Coach: Adam Harrington
Laces Basketball Club:
– Coach: Andrew Wade
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