‘Here come the Avengers’: USA Basketball announces roster for 2024 Paris Olympics

Let the world be warned: ‘The
Avengers’ are coming.

According to multiple reports
from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania
and Joe Vardon, USA Basketball has sent roster invites to several
NBA superstars and this generation’s best basketball players in
preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 11 players to be part of the
exclusive list include: 

• LeBron James
• Stephen Curry
• Kevin Durant
• Joel Embiid
• Jayson Tatum
• Devin Booker
• Jrue Holiday
• Anthony Davis
• Bam Adebayo
• Anthony Edwards 
• Tyrese Haliburton

Barring any unforeseen
circumstances or injuries, USAB will officially be announcing the
team sometime later this year. Team USA officials headed by
managing director Grant Hill have reportedly notified those players
who have been selected (and those who have not) from the

original 41-man pool
revealed earlier this year. Those
selected have been visited by USAB officials to be presented with
‘special Team USA Olympic jerseys.’

Furthermore, according to
Charania and Vardon, Kawhi Leonard is the ‘leading candidate’ for
the 12th and last spot alongside Paul George, Paolo Banchero, Mikal
Bridges, and Jalen Brunson. 

Leonard and George are obvious
inclusions for the valuable services they bring on offense
(shooting) and defense (lockdown perimeter guys), while Banchero,
Bridges, and Brunson earned consideration following their
performances at the FIBA World Cup 2023.

Team USA is set to defend again
its Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball after winning it for the
past 4 iterations of the quadrennial event. 

Leading the team are James,
Curry, and Durant, who are arguably the game’s biggest stars over
the past decade or so.

James will play in his 4th
Olympics after winning bronze in Athens 2004 and gold in Beijing
2008 and London 2012. Curry, a winner of two FIBA World Cup medals
in the past, will be playing in his 1st Olympics. Durant, the
Americans’ all-time leading scorer, is looking for his 4th Olympic
gold medal (won in 2012, 2016, and 2020) to break a tie with
Carmelo Anthony (won in 2008, 2012, and 2016) for the most
ever.

Supplementing its three-headed
monster are Tatum, Booker, and Holiday – members of the gold
medal-winning squad in Tokyo 2021. Reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid,
who has never played in any international competition in his
career, will be making his debut in Paris after committing last
year to play with USA

Previous Olympic gold medal
winners Davis and Adebayo add additional size to the roster while
Edwards and Haliburton, who emerged as USA’s best players in the
World Cup last year, round out the team.

Coaching this vaunted USA roster
is Curry’s NBA coach Steve Kerr, who also coached Team USA in the
World Cup.