It is looking like when Team USA competes in the 2024 Paris Olympics come this summer, there is a strong possibility that Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving could be on the squad. While it is not official, The Athletic's NBA insider in Shams Charania was on FanDuel's show “Run it Back” where he talked about the possibility of Irving joining Team USA where he made a ton of history in the past history with the group.
Irving reportedly has “deep desire” to be on Team USA
According to Charania, Irving has a “deep desire” to represent his country and the team this summer in the worldwide event where he has competed with them before and made his mark. In 2016, Irving was a part of the team that won the gold medal and also in 2014 where they won the FIBA World Cup and was even MVP of that tournament as there is vast history as mentioned by Charania.
“I’m told Kyrie Irving has a deep desire to represent his country, represent the USA in the Paris Olympics this summer. He wants to be part of this team coming up in the summer,” Charania said. “We know about his past with USA Basketball, 2016 he was part of the gold medal team in the Olympics. In 2014, he won the World Cup, he was part of the gold medal team that won the World Cup in 2014. He was also MVP of that tournament out of all the countries, out of all the players, he won MVP that tournament.”
"I'm told Kyrie Irving has a deep desire to represent his country, represent the USA in the Paris Olympics this summer, he wants to be part of this team."@ShamsCharania on Kyrie Irving and Team USA.
📺: https://t.co/oxMs3CAEGu pic.twitter.com/ok81QPSLKC
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 15, 2024
There have been questions and concerns if Irving would have been invited or participated with controversy surrounding the Mavericks star in different areas off the court. Even how Irving questioned if he should play for Team Australia as he said once on a Twitch stream in August of 2023, though, the Team USA player pool would eventually send an invite to Irving this time around.
‘I consider myself an international player even though I played on Team USA,' Irving said on a live stream. “A lot of my peers laugh at me when I bring it up and some fans may not agree, but I was born in Australia.'
Irving has pedigree with players set to be on Team USA
Besides the history, Charania expresses that Irving has the “pedigree” as well with players like LeBron James and Kevin Durant set to be on Team USA, with whom they have been teammates with before. Even besides the players mentioned, with other stars like Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, and others, Charania compares it to the popular superhero team in “The Avengers.”
“So he does have pedigree, there's also history with Kyrie Irving with a couple of the top players that are expected to be part of this team,” Charania said. “You think about LeBron James, they won a championship together in Cleveland, Kevin Durant, they've had a close relationship together in Brooklyn, so those relationships, that history will play a part as well. When you look at the team, at a skeleton of a team, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker. We’ll see where Kyrie Irving could fit on that team if he is able to get an invitation, but it’s looking like The Avengers being formed right now for Team USA.”
So far this season, Irving is averaging 25.4 points, five rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 49.3 percent from the field. The Mavericks are 38-29 on the season which puts them eighth in the Western Conference as their next game is against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Follow Us
Subscribe