With six months to go until the 2024 Paris Olympics, Steve Kerr’s team has officially released its first roster of 41 players, including 23 Olympic gold medallists and world champions.
If there’s one thing that leaves little room for debate, it’s the unanimous agreement among basketball enthusiasts and the specialised press about the supremacy of the United States in basketball. Despite the growing competitiveness of European teams such as Serbia, Spain or reigning world champions Germany, the USA has maintained their dominance.
The world’s best basketball team, the United States, is aiming to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris in 2024 and will need its entire arsenal to do so, as the recent Philippines-Indonesia-Japan Basketball World Cup in 2023 showed. Simply having NBA players proved insufficient.
With that in mind, and to avoid any surprises, USA Basketball today announced a group of 41 players for the US Men’s National Team. The roster was selected by USA Basketball General Manager Grant Hill and is subject to change.
USA’s LeBron James dunks in the final against Spain at the 2012 London Olympics. GETTY IMAGES
As expected, major stars such as LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and many more will be in attendance.
The squad that played in the 2023 World Cup, where they finished fourth (losing 113-111 to eventual champions Germany and 127-118 to Canada in the third-place match), includes the entire roster: Paolo Banchero, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis, and Austin Reaves.
Also on the list are Olympic gold medallists Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Paul George, James Harden, Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, and Jayson Tatum. Those who have played in World Cups but not Olympics include Steph Curry, Jarrett Allen, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Donovan Mitchell.
Steve Kerr finished fourth with the USA at the 2023 World Cup. GETTY IMAGES
The list also features debutants such as Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Alex Caruso, De’Aaron Fox, Aaron Gordon, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Duncan Robinson, and Trae Young.
The 2024 USA men’s national team will be led by head coach Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors), assisted by Mark Few (Gonzaga University), Tyronn Lue (LA Clippers) and Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat). Kerr won Olympic gold in 2021 after serving as an assistant coach under Spurs legend Gregg Popovich at Tokyo 2020.
