Tokyo Olympics: How Team USA's basketball is shaping up with LeBron James and Stephen Curry

Published on: 18 May 2021

When it comes to the Olympics there aren't many greater shoo-ins for a gold medal, let alone a medal, than Team USA at basketball.

Both the men and women dominate their respective fields historically. Focusing on the former, this is perfectly illustrated by the fact they have won 15 of 18 tournaments in which they have participated in - including seven-straight between 1936 and 1968.

Bringing it up to date, the men's US team have triumphed at the last three Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016) - winning the final by an emphatic 30 points over Serbia in Brazil almost five years ago.

Since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, NBA players have been allowed to represent their respective countries meaning the sport's best players have been able to play on the world's greatest stage.

So how are the men's US team shaping up this year? Sportsmail assesses the once-again gold-medal favourites ahead of the coronavirus-delayed spectacle in Tokyo.

When is the men's Olympics due to start?

The tournament is due to start on July 25 and run until August 7.

The US team have been paired with Iran and France in their group as well as another nation that is to be determined through the qualifiers.

The USA open up their group against France on July 25 (10pm BST tip-off) before facing Iran three days later (2.40pm BST tip-off). They conclude their group against the qualifying nation at 10pm BST on July 31.

If, as expected, head coach Gregg Popovich's side emerge from their group then they will have a quarter-final to look forward to on August 3.

After that the semi-finals take place two days later on August 5.

The gold medal match takes place on August 7 with the bronze-medal encounter later that day.

Why is the start date a problem?

To put it bluntly, it's three days potentially after the NBA season ends.

As we all know by now, coronavirus has affected everybody's livelihoods and that's not any different in the NBA world. Last term was disrupted by a four-month hiatus due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

This has had a knock-on effect for this campaign which has been condensed from 82 regular-season games to 72. The NBA season traditionally starts in October but this term was moved to December meaning the finish date has been pushed to potentially July 22.

If there is a Game 7 then Team USA could be without some of their key men due to withdrawals. It wouldn't be inconceivable to see some of the sport's superstars pulling out due to the rigours of the game. It would be a short turnaround for a player to fly halfway across the world.

To make matters more difficult for those players, they will have to learn the plays that Popovich chooses on the fly. The gold-medal favourites are planning to hold a training camp in Las Vegas on July 2 - three weeks before the start of the Tokyo Games.

Who could miss out as a result?

It's hard to determine who is going to reach the NBA Finals as the play-offs are yet to begin. However, if it was a Brooklyn Nets versus Los Angeles Lakers showpiece (the title favourites against the defending champions) then it wouldn't be unthinkable if LeBron James and Kevin Durant both pulled out.

Speaking in March, Lakers forward James eluded to it as such: 'Well, obviously, you know that the [the NBA schedule] plays a part in what my family is thinking about as far as after the season and things of that nature.

'A lot of player variables goes into that but I'm happy to be a part of the finalists. It's an honour and has always been to be part of Team USA, representing our country and playing the game that I love so much.'

Fast-forward to now and James is currently dealing with troublesome high ankle sprain, while this is Durant's first active season with Brooklyn since tearing his achilles during the 2018-19 NBA Finals for the Golden State Warriors.

Both may consider to miss out on Tokyo to recharge their bodies ahead of 2021-22 NBA campaign. This is all hypothetical though.

So who is actually in Team USA's plans at present?

Well, it was initially a 57-man strong list of decorated players, although LaMarcus Aldridge has retired due to health problems making it now 56.

Within that original large number there are 29 players who have played for the USA in an Olympics and/or a FIBA World Cup. Oh, and further more between this array of talent they have won 31 Olympic or FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medals and four bronze medals too. This is the definition of a stacked roster.

From this 56, the group has to be whittled down to 12. Popovich has plenty to ponder alongside his assistant coaches Steve Kerr (Warriors head coach), Lloyd Pierce (former Atlanta Hawks head coach) and Jay Wright (Villanova University head coach).

To further illustrate how this is going to be, the list is truly a who's who of NBA stars.

Nine players from the gold medal winning 2016 Olympics that went 8-0 in Rio de Janeiro remain in contention, including Harrison Barnes, Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, Durant, Paul George, Draymond Green, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan and Kyle Lowry.

The 2012 side matched those 8-0 feats as they won gold in London and from that role-call of names you have James, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Kevin Love, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook all in the running nine years on.

To throw in a further headache, 11 members of the USA's 2019 World Cup team are among the 2021 pool for Tokyo, including Barnes, Jaylen Brown, Joe Harris, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Donovan Mitchell, Mason Plumlee, Jayson Tatum, Myles Turner, Kemba Walker and Derrick White.

Who has confirmed they want to play?

As you can read from above there is a magnitude of top-tier talent that has been mentioned in the section above. However, two names were not mentioned but they have already confirmed their interest.

Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard have won five NBA titles between themselves and 12 All-Star appearances but neither has featured in an Olympics.

Curry has hinted at his interest previously to do so but Leonard confirmed his intent in March.

'A lot of people were in for 2020, but just the pandemic pretty much killed everything. Right now, my plan is to go.'

Leonard's words are particularly of interest as it would see him reunited with Popovich. The pair worked together for seven years at the San Antonio Spurs between 2011-18 - winning the 2014 NBA title together. However, their relationship soured during the 2017-18 campaign when Leonard only played nine times due to a mysterious quad injury that was questioned by the Spurs hierarchy and by some of his team-mates. He subsequently left that off-season and led the Toronto Raptors to their first-ever NBA title in 2018-19.

His dynamic with Popovich will be an intriguing subplot.

When is the squad set to be announced?

The Olympic rosters are due on July 5 - just three days after the USA's training camp is due to start. It's bound to be disjointed as Game 1 of the 2020-21 NBA Finals are not due to start until July 8.

And as detailed in the above sections, this is not ideal preparation for Popovich who will be anyone selected for Team USA and is playing in the NBA Finals doesn't get injured.

Anybody in line for history?

Yes and you need to look no further than James. If the 36-year-old is a part of Team USA this summer then he will join Carmelo Anthony as the only players to have played in four Olympics for the country. James is a three-time Olympic medallist James (gold in 2008 and 2012, bronze in 2004) and a gold in Tokyo would see him tie Anthony's feats here too (gold in 2008, 2012, 2016, bronze in 2004).

If James, Durant and Paul all play and the USA win then those three will join Anthony as the only Americans to have won three Olympic golds (Durant won gold in 2012 and 2016, while Paul triumphed in 2008 and 2012).

Oh, and if Curry is part of a successful Tokyo side he will join a select few - which includes Durant and Westbrook - who have won gold in a FIBA World Cup and an Olympics.

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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