When the U.S. men’s basketball team travels to the Paris Olympics later this month, they will be wearing unmistakably green uniforms.
NBA sources confirmed Wednesday that Celtics guard Derrick White will fill in for Clippers guard Kawhi Leonard, who opted out of the team prior to Wednesday night’s exhibition game against Canada in Las Vegas.
White joins Jayson Tatum and July Holiday on the Celtics’ 12-man roster, giving the team three players. Celtics guard Payton Pritchard played for the USA Select Team, which scrimmaged with the national team in Las Vegas this week.
White, the only player on the team who has never been selected as an NBA All-Star, played on the national team that finished seventh at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, where he was teammates with Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker on the Celtics.
White was a finalist in the Tokyo Olympics and was selected for the Paris Olympic team last season. He was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the second consecutive year and averaged 15.2 points, 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game in helping the Celtics win their first NBA title since 2008.
Leonard was bothered by knee injuries all of last season and missed four of the team’s six-game first-round playoff loss to the Mavericks. Leonard took part in training camp practices this week and said he’d been feeling fine in recent weeks, but he and the Clippers ultimately decided to err on the side of caution.
“Kawhi has continued to prepare for the Olympics over the past few weeks, attending several practices in Las Vegas,” USA Basketball said in a statement. “He felt ready to compete, but he respects the decision made by USA Basketball and the Clippers that it is in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for next season rather than competing in the Olympic Games in Paris.”
Forward Kevin Durant, who is out with a sore calf, will not play in Wednesday night’s exhibition match but said he hopes to return soon. The U.S. national team plays exhibition matches against Australia and Serbia in Abu Dhabi next week before traveling to London for exhibition matches against South Sudan and Germany.
The U.S. will face Serbia in its Olympic pool opener on July 28.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him: @adamhimmelsbach.
