Team USA was dealt some tough news on Wednesday morning when it was announced that Kawhi Leonard would be withdrawing from the team, forcing a replacement to come in and fill his shoes. While Derrick White ended up being the guy selected, many fans quickly pined for Duke basketball phenom Cooper Flagg to be Leonard's replacement.
Flagg was selected to be on the USA select team, meaning that he was part of the team practicing against the Olympics squad during the beginning of training camp. Since Flagg is one of the top basketball prospects in the game, and he is already with the team out in Las Vegas given he was a part of the select team, many fans believed choosing him to come in and replace Leonard would have made the most sense.
Should Cooper Flagg have been Kawhi Leonard's Team USA replacement?
Flagg is an extremely unproven player given that he hasn't even played at the collegiate level yet, but he stood out during the select team's scrimmages against the Olympic squad. Given all the hype surrounding him, and the fact that he really wouldn't have a massive role behind some of the other superstars on this team, it would have been a great opportunity to give fans a unique chance to see him take the court.
Instead, the Boston Celtics savvy guard in White got the nod, which was controversial for several reasons. While White was long expected to be the guy to fill in for Leonard if he ended up not playing, choosing him over some other established NBA stars, such as his own Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown, was viewed as a bit of a head-scratching decision.
In a similar way that The Dream Team used one of their final spots on an unproven prospect in Christian Laettner, fans wanted to see Flagg land with Team USA instead of White. Unfortunately, that didn't end up happening, and it looks like fans will have to wait a bit longer to potentially see Flagg make his Olympic debut for his country.
Regardless of their decision to pick White over Flagg, Team USA will be favored to take home gold in the upcoming Games. They have a star-studded lineup, even without Leonard, that will be nearly impossible for their opponents to slow down. Flagg wouldn't have had a huge role with the team, but getting to see him put on a show in garbage time would have certainly been entertaining.
Team USA has their eyes on the prize, though, and that led to them making the safe play to choose White as Leonard's replacement. Fans are certainly upset with that decision, but if everything goes according to plan for Flagg, he should end up finding his way onto Team USA's Olympic squad at some point over the next few years.
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