According to Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Team USA has finalized 11 out of 12 players for the Paris Olympics this summer.
Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday are both named on the list. Both Holiday and Tatum won gold representing Team USA back in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A few weeks ago in an interview with PEOPLE, Jayson Tatum expressed his desire to play for Team USA in Paris this summer.
“I played in Tokyo three years ago and won the gold medal, and that experience was different because it was still around COVID,” says Tatum, noting that “there were no fans” at the events.
Tatum averaged 15.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists during the 2020 Games.
For Holiday, his versatility and ability to guard several positions have always been appreciated by Team USA.
In his last Olympics games Holiday averaged 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists en route to a gold medal.
Included in the star-studded list are LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Bam Adebayo, and Tyrese Haliburton.
Back in October, Embiid decided to represent the Red, White, and Blue over France and Cameroon.
Team USA still has the option to add one more player to its list which can give guys like Derrick White and Jaylen Brown hope that they can be on the plane to Paris. Both Brown and White were included in Team USA’s initial pool of players that could be selected back in January.
Jaylen Brown last repped Team USA in the 2019 USA World Cup Team. The 2019 team disappointed finishing in seventh place with a 6-2 record. White was also a part of the World Cup team where he played 15 minutes per game averaging 5.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
With this lineup of players, Team USA should be favorites to repeat as Olympic gold medal winners.
