USA announces men’s basketball team for the Olympics

WASHINGTON, USA (AP):

The United States of America (USA) Basketball studied every men's basketball game they have played for about two decades and a clear trend eventually appeared. When the defence isn't good enough, the Americans tend to get themselves into trouble.

The team for the Paris Olympics was built with that in mind.

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 formally announced as members of the US Olympic team yesterday - a group with nearly 200,000 NBA points, 84 All-Star Game selections and 10 Olympic gold medals between them.

"You want, obviously, talented individuals, but you want players who can blend and can fit and can play certain roles that you need," USA Basketball Managing Director Grant Hill said yesterday.

"I think defence was certainly a priority, and having guys capable of locking down, guarding multiple sets within a possession."

The thinking is simple: Scoring shouldn't be a problem, and if the defence does its job, the Americans - looking for a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal - will be tough to beat.

The group has seven players with gold medals; Durant has three, James has two, while Adebayo, Booker, Holiday, Tatum and Booker each have one. The 12 players averaged 24.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists, combined this season, shooting 39 per cent from three-point range.

"Obviously, it's a great honour to represent your country, but for me, to be in that room as part of those 12 players, part of who they think are the 12 best players to represent the United States, it takes it to a different level," Adebayo said.

The amount of talent on the USA roster is staggering. Of the 12 selections, seven finished the season ranked among the NBA's top 15 scorers per game. James is the league's all-time scoring leader, Curry the all-time leader in three-pointers, Haliburton won the assist-per-game title this season, and 10 were All-Stars this season.