Who are the Team USA basketball roster finalists?
By Randy Gurzi
USA Basketball has announced the 30 finalists for their men’s national team, that number will be trimmed down to 12 later this year.
The 30 finalists for the 2016 USA Men’s Basketball Team have been announced, and the groupd is highlighted by three-time Olympic Medalists LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks. Both men were huge in the success of the 2012 team that took the gold in London.
Other members from the 2012 group hopeful to make it to the Rio Olympics include guard Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, guard Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers, center Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, forward Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors, forward Kevin Love of the Cavs and guard James Harden of the Houston Rockets.
USA Basketball announces its 30 finalists for the 2016 US Olympic Men's Team. pic.twitter.com/8mew1AqytL
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 18, 2016
The biggest name added to the list of finalist who was not part of the 2012 final roster is 2015 NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who was a part of the Warriors championship team in the 2014-2015 season and amazing run to start the 2015-2016 NBA season.
The biggest name to be excluded from the last version of Team USA would be the Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, the 37-year old guard who announced his retirement following this season.
The task of getting so many talented stars to perform as one cohesive unit will once again fall on the shoulders of legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, who has been the head coach for the team since 2006, although he has served the Olympic team in some capacity since 1979.