Before we see future stars of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers take to the field for Summer League action in Las Vegas, we’ll get our first look at the U.S. national team before it heads to Paris for the 2024 Olympics. Here’s what we know so far:
The Clippers will have Kawhi Leonard and head coach Ty Lue, who was on Steve Kerr’s staff when the U.S. national team failed to win a medal at the World Cup.
Not only do Leonard and Lue have NBA obligations on the plane to Paris after failing to get out of the first round again last season, but Lue was also a part of Team USA’s embarrassing finish last time out. Leonard has struggled with injuries and rest management, but any team with Kawhi Leonard in the lineup is a championship contender.
As always, the question is, will he be healthy?
The Los Angeles Lakers are in hot water right now as they have not made any substantive moves this offseason despite signing players like Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan and Trae Young.
The two players heading to Paris to escape the heat are LeBron James and Anthony Davis. This won’t be the first time either player plays for the U.S. national team. Anthony Davis is expected to start alongside Joel Embiid in the post. Something I never expected to read was this article by Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
“Leonard is a better perimeter defender than James and a more committed defender. Davis is taller and a better defender. The USA already has enough offensive firepower on the court that some would argue James might be the sixth man if Kerr were to decide on his lineups based on last year’s team’s pitfalls. But James coming off the bench probably isn’t going to happen. I spoke with two USA Basketball sources, and both cast serious doubt on this idea.”
– Joe Vardon, The Athletic
Even without James, the US will field a strong lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum (fresh off an incredible NBA Finals run), Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid.
May was quick to point out that Team USA might not be the highest-level team in Olympic men’s basketball: the home team, France, will have a dangerous lineup led by Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Golbert, who will tighten up the middle for France.
Surprisingly, neither Alexander Sarr nor Zachary Lisacher were selected for the national team despite being the top two picks in the 2024 NBA Draft. Both Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum, who Lakers and Clippers fans will remember, are on the roster. If you leave these two young stars out of the national team, there must be a better team somewhere.
As Clippers and Lakers players prepare for national team camps, the last thing everyone wants is health. The last thing we want to see is someone collapse during or before a game, like Paul George did all those years ago.
The pressure will be on the experienced players as the U.S. pushes for gold, a medal they haven’t missed at an Olympic Games since Athens in 2004. But do they have the drive to win like their younger counterparts?
The U.S. will host Canada, Australia, Serbia, South Sudan and Germany before lighting the torch in Paris. The first exhibition game against Canada in Las Vegas is scheduled for Wednesday, July 10, before flying to Abu Dhabi, London and finally Paris.
