Edit: the names are starting to leak. According to the AP there would be the 44 pre-selected from last year (the list is here), in addition to about fifteen others, including:
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Although it is not yet certain that the Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23 to August 8, USA Basketball has started its selection process according to Woj.
The first step ? Send invitations. According to Woj, no less than sixty players were invited to represent Team USA in Tokyo and wash away the affront of the World Cup in China in September 2019. We do not know the names in detail, but all of them. the stars and the main players would have been invited.
However, in view of the big concerns inside during the last World Cup, Team USA will give great importance to the choice of pivots. Christian Wood et Bam adebayo (Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson were also invited to the Heat according to the Miami herald) would thus be among the guests. Bam didn’t make the cut at the World Cup, and he used that as motivation last season. He could be a serious candidate for the Tokyo 12, or even almost guaranteed to be taken if he is a starter.
Jerry Colangelo cast a wide net and he doesn’t have much choice, since the players who will go to the playoffs, and especially the conference finals and finals, will have very, very little rest and we imagine that those who will go far will not be able to participate.
If the Olympics attract more stars than the World Cup, with these special conditions, it is quite possible that this time many superstars will decline the invitation to Tokyo.
Selection process at center will be interesting for this team, a problem-area for Team USA in 2019 World Cup. Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Houston’s Christian Wood – one of the league’s success stories in 2020-2021 – are among invitees to fill those roles, sources said.
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 23, 2021
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