Cooper Flagg joins NBA players on USA Select Team ahead of 2024 Olympics
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Cooper Flagg will need to wait a year before he hears his name called in the NBA draft, but he will get a chance to compete against the league's best players ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The incoming Duke freshman was one of 15 players named to the USA Select Team ahead of the Paris Games. The USA Select Team and U.S. men's national team will train together from July 6-8 in Las Vegas before the national team begins its quest for a fifth straight Olympic gold medal on July 28.
Here is a full look at the USA Select Team roster, which is filled up-and-coming NBA talent:
- Jalen Duran, Detroit Pistons
- Cooper Flagg, Duke
- Langston Galloway, free agent
- Nigel Hayes-Davis, Fenerbahçe (Turkey)
- Brandon Miller, Charlotte Hornets
- Trey Murphy, New Orleans Pelicans
- Keegan Murray, Sacramento Kings
- Brandin Podziemski, Golden State Warriors
- Micah Potter, Utah Jazz/Salt Lake City Stars (G League)
- Payton Pritchard, Boston Celtics
- Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets
- Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic
- Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets
Flagg will be the first collegiate player to participate with the senior national team program since Doug McDermott and Marcus Smart in 2013.
Ten of the 15 players have previous USA Basketball experience. Duren, Galloway, Murphy, Murray and Pritchard were all members of the 2023 USA Select Team ahead of last year's FIBA World Cup, where the U.S. placed fourth. Hayes-Davis, Miller, Podziemski and Potter will be participating with USA Basketball for the first time.
There's a track record of players going from the Select Team to the Olympics. Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton will be suiting up for Team USA in Paris after being on the Select Team in 2021, and Devin Booker (2016), Jrue Holiday (2012), Kawhi Leonard (2012) and Kevin Durant (2008) were also members of the Select Team in the past.
"As a former member of the USA Select Team, I know how important and fun this opportunity is for each of these players," USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill said in a statement. "There is a tremendous amount of talent on this Select squad with the significant job of helping the 2024 USA Men's National Team as they begin their journey to the Olympics. Each of these athletes will play a role in our preparation as we also develop the national team pipeline for the future."
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley will be the head coach for the USA Select Team with Indiana Pacers assistant coach Jim Boylen and Purdue head coach Matt Painter serving as assistants.