Kawhi Leonard, Tyrese Haliburton and Joel Embiid are set for the start of the U.S. men’s national basketball team’s training camp in Las Vegas next week, the first step toward what the Americans hope to be a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Leonard missed 12 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ last 14 games last season due to right knee inflammation. Haliburton was hampered late in the Indiana Pacers’ playoff run by left hamstring issues. And Embiid was dealing with left knee issues during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers.
“We hope everyone is OK to go,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said Thursday. “We contacted everyone, not just these three guys. We’ve been in constant communication, so we’re hoping all 12 guys are ready to go.”
Leonard may have been the biggest question mark. Haliburton said when the Pacers’ season ended that he thought he had enough time to prepare for the Olympic run, and Embiid was at the NBA Finals about two weeks ago and proclaimed himself ready for what will be his first Olympic experience.
But Leonard’s status was a mystery. USA Basketball is checking in on Leonard, who has been working out the past few weeks and likes where he is currently.
“We will continue to stay in touch with the entire group as we arrive in Las Vegas next week,” Kerr said.
It’s a huge sigh of relief for the Americans, who will head into the Paris Games as the favorite and top-ranked men’s team in the world — although no one expects these Olympics to be a cakewalk. France, with Victor Wembanyama, has the advantage of playing at home and is a team that believes it can beat the Americans.
“I can’t wait to face them, it will be a very interesting confrontation” Wembanyama said at a press conference in Paris on Thursday. “As a basketball player, it’s also a dream to play against Team USA and even against all those players, all those legends.”
Serbia should be a serious medal contender behind NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. Germany won the World Cup last year and have largely the same team this summer. Canada has its best chance of winning an Olympic medal since winning silver in 1936.
“We are well aware of the challenge we face,” Kerr said. “The basketball world has gotten much better, much stronger. We know how good these teams are and we know we will have to do our best. So I couldn’t be more excited.”
The US has not yet had to make any changes to the list since it was originally announced in April, although contingency plans are in place in all positions. The original 12 names remain unchanged: Leonard, Haliburton, Embiid, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis.
“Winning is the pinnacle of sport,” Haliburton said. “And winning a gold medal is on top of that. …How can you not want to do this?”
The group has seven players with Olympic gold medals; Durant has three, James has two, while Adebayo, Booker, Holiday, Tatum and Booker have one each. There is still a chance the lineup could change if necessary. The lineup was changing before the Tokyo Games three years ago, until just before the competition began.
“Every roster spot is important,” Kerr said. “You never know how these things are going to turn out.”
The Americans make their first appearance against Canada on July 10, then have games in Abu Dhabi and London before the start of the Paris Games. The U.S. opens the Olympics on July 28 against Serbia and will also face South Sudan and the winner of next month’s qualifiers in Puerto Rico – Mexico, Lithuania, Ivory Coast, Italy, Bahrain or Puerto Rico – in its other games of the group stage.
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