US Men’s National Basketball: 30 Finalists Named For 2016 Olympic Team — Big Names Missing
The United States of America will look to grab another gold in basketball, and now it is known just who may have that chance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The 30 finalists for the US Men’s National Basketball team have been named, and it will eventually have to be brought down to 12 players. While that will come in time, it is interesting to see some of the names that are absent from the list of invitees.
USA Basketball announced the list of finalists on Monday morning, and there is a lot of talent on the list, as Fox Sports explains.
Breaking: @USABasketball Announces 30 Finalists For 2016 U.S. Olympic Men’s Team! #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/IX1TDwOH8E
— NBA (@NBA) January 18, 2016
As you can see, there are some big-time talents on the list, and it’s going to be quite difficult to whittle it down to just 12. That means 18 of these tremendous NBA players are going to have to stay home and won’t represent the United States at the 2016 Olympics.
Even though these players have been invited, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will all head into training camp or accept. LeBron James, of the Cleveland Cavaliers, says that his focus is elsewhere right now, and that’s the current NBA season.
“I haven’t thought about it. The last thing I thought about Team USA was Kobe [Bryant] taking his name out of the pool. That’s the last thing I kind of really thought about, so I’m not any inch closer to playing or not any inch closer to not playing. I haven’t really thought about it much.”
Even though Kobe Bryant has announced he will retire from the LA Lakers and the NBA after this season, there was the thought he would play in the 2016 Olympic Games. As reported by NBC Sports, Bryant just announced this weekend that he won’t be playing in the Olympics this year and that he has “had my moment.”
Other notable names missing from this year’s invitees that were on the 2012 US Olympic team are Deron Williams and Tyson Chandler.
Another big name missing, as pointed out by SB Nation, is that of Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. Rose was a starter on the 2010 FIBA World Championship team and on the 2014 FIBA World Cup team, but injuries have kept him off the NBA floor for most of the past two seasons.
Here is the full list of all 30 names that are the finalists for the 2016 US Men’s National Team.
- Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)
- DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors)
- Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons)
- Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
- LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs)
- LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)
- Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors)
- Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies)
- DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings)
- Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
- Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets)
- Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards)
- Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls)
- Rudy Gay (Sacramento Kings)
- Paul George (Indiana Pacers)
- Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors)
- Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets)
- Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)
- Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers)
- James Harden (Houston Rockets)
- Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz)
- Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors)
- John Wall (Washington Wizards)
- Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder)
- Andre Iguodala (Golden State Warriors)
- Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs)
- Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers)
There are some others who fans believe were snubbed from being invited, and that’s Dwyane Wade, Damian Lillard, and Chris Bosh. Still, some names had to be left out, and it’s hard to think how the current list will be brought down to just 12.
That cut-down of these 30 finalists needs to happen by late June as the 2016 Olympics in Rio begin on Friday, August 5. From that point, the US Men’s National Basketball Team will head into full-on training camp to prepare for the games and the world.
[Image by Stacy Revere/Getty Images]
