USA Basketball announces roster for Paris Olympics

A star-studded roster of the United States’ best basketball players has been assembled for the Paris Olympics as Team USA seeks its 5th-straight gold medal.

USA Basketball announced its men’s Olympic team for Paris on Wednesday – LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards and Kawhi Leonard.

“I’m grateful to these 12 men for their commitment to represent USA Basketball,” USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill said in a statement. “The United States is home to some of the best basketball players in the world and I appreciate the vast interest in being part of this roster. These decisions weren’t easy but it was a pleasure to go through the process and reach this outcome.”

The amount of talent on the U.S. roster is staggering. Of the 12 commits, seven finished the season ranked among the NBA’s top 15 scorers per game. James is the league’s all-time scoring leader, Curry the all-time leader in 3-pointers, Haliburton won the assist-per-game title this season and 10 were All-Stars this season as well.

“We have the utmost respect for the level of competition we will face this summer,” Hill said. “The Olympics represent the pinnacle of sport and the world will be watching the USA as we play in the toughest basketball tournament in history.”

The group has seven players with 10 combined Olympic gold medals; Durant has three, James has two, while Adebayo, Booker, Holiday, Tatum and Booker each have one. The Paris Games will be a first for Curry, Leonard and Embiid – who chose to play for the U.S. last year after becoming an American citizen. The Cameroon-born center also could have chosen to represent France at the Paris Games.

Kevin Durant #7 of the United States celebrates the teams gold medal victory with the United States flag after the France V USA basket final for men at the Saitama Super Arena during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games on August 7, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. / Credit: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

Durant has his eye on history. If the Americans win gold in Paris, he will become the first men’s player in Olympic history with four basketball gold medals.

He and Carmelo Anthony are the only men’s players with three Olympic golds; there are six women, all American, with at least four Olympic basketball golds. Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi each have five, while Teresa Edwards, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles and Lisa Leslie each won four.

The Americans have won the last four Olympic gold medals and remain ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA even after failing to medal in the two most recent World Cups. The team finished seventh in China in 2019 and fourth in Manila last summer.

A slew of other nations will expect to contend for gold in Paris — the host French, reigning World Cup champion Germany, Serbia and Canada among them — but the American roster has a depth of NBA stars that no other country can reach.

The U.S. men have competed in basketball at the Olympics 19 times, winning 19 medals — 16 gold, one silver and two bronze.

The Paris team will be coached by Steve Kerr, assisted by Erik Spoelstra, Tyronn Lue and Mark Few.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.