USA Basketball Team Roster for 2016 Olympics: Coach Mike Krzyzewski Discusses Uncertainty of Lineup; Who's In and Out?
Even with players withdrawing their participation for Team USA, head coach Mike Krzyzewski said the formula of choosing the 12 players to represent the country in the basketball category of the Olympics is the same every year — picking the best ones among those shortlisted.
Dream Team Star Players Backing Out
In an interview with, Krzyzewski was asked how he is dealing with star players backing out of the Olympics, causing the Dream Team to lose an entire back court. Stephen Curry earlier opted out of the August Rio Games to recover from his knee issues and was then followed by Russel Westbrook and James Harden.
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"There are number of things that influence a player participating and the very first is injury," the coach said, adding that some players do not commit because they are still recovering from an injury or do not want to risk their recovery.
Another reason Krzyzewski is family situation like getting married, just like in the case of Westbrook. He also said that some decline because they are trying to plan a baby. The coach said the last thing basketball players consider is contract.
"These are human things that happen every year," he added noting that they try to develop a pool of players to prepare for these possibilities. From the shortlist, the coach said that they choose the 12 members of the Team USA roster.
An earlier NBA.com report mentioned that other players who will not join Team USA in the Olympics are LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis, who all opted out due to injuries.
LeBron James had previously expressed his concern about the Zika virus in Brazil. Krzyzewski said they have not received a final word from him but would not want to bother him because he is still focused on the NBA Finals. The coach said players like LeBron will make quick decisions on a huge commitment like this
Other NBA international players have also decided to skip the Olympics including Spain's Pau Gasol and Canada's Andrew Wiggins.
Possible Lineup for Team USA
With the list for potential Team USA players starting to narrow down, fans are curious who will make it to the 12-man roster. Below is the list of the updated and potential roster with the final members to be announced by the end of this month.
- Kevin Durant
- Jimmy Butler
- Paul George
- DeMarcus Cousins
- Carmelo Anthony
- Harrison Barnes
- Bradley Beal
- Mike Conley
- DeMar DeRozan
- Andre Drummond
- Kenneth Faried
- Rudy Gay
- Draymond Green
- Gordon Hayward
- Dwight Howard
- Andre Iguodala
- Kyrie Irving
- LeBron James
- DeAndre Jordan
- Kawhi Leonard
- Damian Lillard
- Kevin Love
- Klay Thompson
