In modern Olympics history, there have been 19 gold medals awarded in the men’s basketball competition. The United States has won 15 of them, and the last three in a row. Two of those gold medal-winning teams — the 1960 edition with Oscar Robertson and Jerry West and the 1992 Dream Team — were so dominant and influential they were enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2010.
Team USA is a heavy favorite to win its 16th gold medal in 20 tries this summer in Tokyo thanks to a roster filled with flexible talent that has unlimited shooting range and a legendary coach in the San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich.
Player commitments/roster to date
• Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
• Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
• Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets
• Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
• James Harden, Brooklyn Nets
• Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
• Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks
• Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns
• Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
Latest news
• Suns’ Chris Paul commits to Team USA for Summer Olympics: Sources
Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Chris Paul plans to commit to Team USA for the 2020 Summer Olympics, sources tell The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
• Nets’ James Harden commits to Team USA for Olympics; Steph Curry out: Sources
Brooklyn Nets star James Harden has committed to Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics, while Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry will not participate, sources tell The Athletic. Also likely out is Harden’s teammate, Kyrie Irving, who is recovering from an ankle injury sustained in the second round of the playoffs.
• Nets’ Kevin Durant expected to join Team USA for Tokyo Olympics: Sources
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is expected to join Team USA to play in this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, sources tell The Athletic.
• Damian Lillard, Draymond Green commit to Team USA for Olympics
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green are among the initial commitments to Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics this summer, sources tell The Athletic.
Features and columns
Joe Vardon: NBA Finals AND bust: How Devin Booker — and Kevin Love — could end up playing for Team USA
The clock in Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of time in Phoenix, Ariz.
So, in an increasingly possible scenario, Game 7 of the NBA Finals could start at 6 p.m. on July 22, a Thursday, in the American desert. At that exact hour, it would be 10 a.m. on July 23 in Tokyo, with the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics slated to begin just 12 hours later. Team USA’s first men’s basketball game is at 9 p.m. on July 25 in Japan — or 5 a.m. Phoenix time.
What is the point of all of this? Regardless of the dizzying logistics, Suns star Devin Booker is going to play for the Americans in Tokyo, and USA Basketball has a contingency plan to ensure that happens if Booker’s NBA team is in the Finals and the series stretches to a seventh game.
“I’ll tell you this about Devin, he said to me, ‘Even if we (the Suns) go all the way in the Finals and I only have three days to get to Tokyo, I’ll be there,’” Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo told The Athletic.
In the closing moments of an overtime game in Shanghai, way back on Sept. 3, 2019, Jayson Tatum rolled an ankle.
At the time, team doctors didn’t believe the injury was serious. But it sure was impactful, with ramifications perhaps stretching two years into the future.
Team USA points to that ankle injury for Tatum as a deciding factor in its FIBA World Cup misfortunes. Had the Boston Celtics star been healthy, the Americans feel they would not have fallen in the quarterfinals to France, and surely would not have finished a sorely disappointing seventh place. Tatum, of course, believes that too, and if his urge to avenge that injury, and what happened because of it, is strong enough, he might very well lead Team USA into the Tokyo Olympics next month.
“It definitely is something to think about,” Tatum said last week, after the Celtics were knocked out of the playoffs by the Brooklyn Nets. “Obviously, going two or three years kind of without much of a break, but obviously that’s an incredible opportunity, and something I’ve got to think about further down the line.”
Vardon: Marijuana testing for Team USA basketball is a break from NBA protocol
The 57 NBA players in consideration to represent Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics, many of them currently playing in the postseason, will be subject to marijuana testing starting May 25.
Why is this news? Because since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic — so, the Disney bubble, and then for the entire 2020-21 season — the league has not randomly tested its players for marijuana. Due to the social restrictions to combat COVID-19, which meant a lot of isolation, the NBA chose to basically allow cannabis use.
But, according to a memo sent to all the 30 teams on Tuesday, which was obtained by The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Joe Vardon, “each national team player” for Team USA will be subject to World Anti-Doping Agency testing, which includes cannabinoids, narcotics and also performance-enhancing drugs.
(Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
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