Team USA men’s basketball has just announced their roster for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and it is pretty much what you expected. With Lebron James focusing on plugging Space Jam instead, the USA will be led by Kevin Durant instead. Without a doubt, the odds are with the red, white and blue to continue their dominance in this competition. America will be heavy favorites.
Although Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns is another stud who will be a part of the American all-star team. In addition to Devin Booker, the Stars and Stripes will include another former Kentucky Wildcat, Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat. Full roster is below:
Team USA Basketball Roster
Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Durant, Jerami Grant (Detroit Pistons), Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers), Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics).
Team USA Coaching Staff
Head coach Gregg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs)
Assistant coaches Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors), Lloyd Pierce and Jay Wright (Villanova University)
Devin Booker is averaging 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game during the Suns playoff run, which currently sees them up 3-1 on the L.A. Clippers in the Western Conference Finals.
As Booker nears 10,000 career points, at age 24, he’s scored the seventh most points of any player under age 25. Booker was named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Month in February and won NBA Western Conference Player of the Week three times in 2020-21.
Devin Booker averaged 25.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game in the regular season; the fourth straight season in which he has averaged more than 24.0 ppg.
Adebayo, a 2020 NBA All-Star, led the Miami Heat back to the NBA Finals last season.
To win their fourth straight Olympic gold, the U.S. will be playing six games, three in the group stage and three in the final phase (quarterfinals, semifinals, gold medal game) instead of eight as in Olympiads past.
Team USA has medaled in all of the 18 Olympics they have participated in, winning 15 gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals. They have a very impressive 138-5 overall win-loss record. Since NBA players were first allowed to start participating in 1992, Team USA is 53-3 in seven different Olympics with six gold medals, including a 25 game winning streak.
The opening ceremonies are July 23, with competition starting July 25-Aug. 8 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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