Steph Curry has three NBA championship rings and two NBA MVP trophies to his name, putting him in a very exclusive company. But there is one thing that has yet to win that so many basketball players dream of, and it looks like he may not have the opportunity to check that box anytime soon.
Curry, of course, has never participated in the Olympics. He is twice gold medal at the FIBA World Cup, but ultimately missed the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro where Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Team USA won gold.
Curry, Thompson and Green were all included among the 44 finalists of the 2020 United States Olympic men’s basketball team announced in February, before the coronavirus pandemic brought the world of sports to a screeching halt. There is no doubt that Curry in particular would be part of the 12-man squad headed to the 2021 Tokyo Games if Team USA sent the best.
However, it appears that this is not the case. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, there is growing skepticism towards elite NBA players attending the Olympics, due to the league having other priorities in hopes of playing a full season next year with the Olympics. fans present.
“For now,” Wojnarowski wrote on Saturday, “here’s an idea on the league board, sources said: If the NBA believes it can significantly delay the start of the season to buy time to bring fans back to arenas,” brainstormed an idea of a month-long Olympic hiatus reminiscent of how the NHL handled the Winter Olympics.
“As the pandemic rages, there is less optimism about elite players participating in the Olympics – including Americans and international stars. The NBA and NBPA will take positions that the Games are important, but the Olympics are barely a priority. for owners – – especially when they don’t share the television revenue that comes with the inclusion of league superstars. Organizations see player wear and tear they’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars in. In the midst of a pandemic, the Olympics even mean less to the owners, team leaders and the NBPA. “
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Even if Team USA wanted Curry – and Thompson and Green for that matter – to play in Tokyo, there’s no guarantee any of them would. That trio just played the equivalent of seven NBA seasons while the rest of the league played six, and although the pandemic has created an opportunity for them to recover, it’s possible they’d rather save their bodies for NBA competition.
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Of course, given that Curry has yet to participate in the Olympics, perhaps this would be a motivating factor for him to do so. He expressed a lot of desire until March. But as Wojnarowski explained, there are great forces working against this possibility and Team USA could look very different than it would in a non-pandemic year.
“At the very least,” continued Wojnarowski, “Team USA will probably have to be ready to bring a much younger and less experienced roster to Tokyo – a team profile that could eventually mirror the rest of the world registrations as well.”
Of course, a lot can and will happen from now to the Tokyo Games. But aside from the significant progress being made in stemming COVID-19, it seems increasingly unlikely that Curry and other NBA stars will be a part of it.
