The 2016 USA Men’s Olympic basketball team has begun pre-Olympic exhibition play in hopes of achieving its third-straight gold medal. But this year’s roster was a bit surprising.
What are three things LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have in common? They are NBA champions, Olympic gold medal champions and won’t be playing on the 2016 USA Olympic Roster. Kobe and LeBron are arguably two of the greatest players in NBA history and technically, due to age for the both of them, they will be taking the summer off.
This was the story for many of the NBA players expected to compete during the summer. Names like Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook withdrew themselves from being considered. After one superstar withdrew his name, it appeared a domino effect happened in which all others began to drop out.
It got so desperate to the point of where even Harrison Barnes, who struggled mightily in the 2016 NBA Finals, ended up on the 12-man roster. How could this be?
Coach Mike Krzyzewski contemplated even returning for a third go at this year’s team. He won the gold medal with both the 2008 and 2012 roster, proving he had nothing left to show. It’s likely Coach K decided to take the reins again thinking the majority of the superstars would be playing, but it didn’t work out that way.
This will easily be the toughest international job Coach K has ever had, but will make him an even better coach, if that’s possible.
Krzyzewski is now 69 years old, with more than 40 years of head-coaching experience to his name. He has the most Division I wins for a men’s head coach, five national championships and two gold medals on his resume. He doesn’t need much else, but somehow, even after all these years Krzyzewski still finds a way to be the best coach in basketball.
The question many are asking is, “Why did so many players refuse to play in this year’s Olympics?” It may have a little bit to do with Paul George’s gruesome leg injury he suffered just two years ago during a scrimmage. Some players refuse to take the risk of injuring themselves, or in LeBron’s case and maybe a few others, it was time for some rest.
The past two Olympics, America has been so incredibly spoiled with the talent displayed by our men’s basketball team, we forget that the non-superstar talent is actually still superior to most countries’ starters. And so because of this, despite having Barnes on the team, America will still win the gold medal this summer.
This roster returns just two players from the 2012 team that was being compared to the Dream Team at the time, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant. Both players were an integral part of the 2012 run, as they brought timely outside shooting.
The squad has a fresh set of faces this time. This includes reigning NBA champion Kyrie Irving and former NBA champs, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and yes, Harrison Barnes (luckily for him, he was on the Warriors roster the past couple of seasons).
Raptor teammates Kyle Lowry and DeMar Derozan have their first crack at the big stage Olympics after a stellar season and a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference. Jimmy Butler is coming off a tough season with the Bulls in which he failed to stay healthy but is a great player nonetheless.
The two centers for this year’s team include Los Angeles Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan and Sacramento Kings star Demarcus Cousins. Despite the leg injury Paul George suffered a couple of years ago, he is playing for the 2016 team.
Looking at this roster, it’s tough to sit back and predict a starting a lineup — especially with the way times are changing, and a lot of teams simply run small ball now. But internationally, it doesn’t always appear to work the same. Many of those teams prefer to run a big man in the paint, but it won’t hurt the U.S. any, as Cousins and Jordan provide big enough bodies to counter.
A potential starting lineup will look like Irving, Thompson/DeRozan, Durant/Anthony, Green and Cousins. While this is just one potential look at it, Coach K will have a lot of decisions to make regarding who meshes well together.
While the LeBrons and Steph Currys are not playing in this year’s Olympics, the chance of someone other than the USA winning gold is slim to none. They are equipped with more NBA champions than the 2012 team had, and the hall-of-famer Krzyzewski is at the helm.
As long as the team stays focused, it absolutely will bring home the gold. Again.
