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Team USA is not looking rosy right now. Not only did it got beat in exhibition games by Nigeria and Australia, but it's also losing on the personnel front. Head coach Gregg Popovich will look to steer Team USA to a gold-medal finish in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics without Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal, who's no longer part of the team after he entered the health and safety protocols.
Popovich, naturally, did not sound happy with the way it turned out for Beal. He's frustrated primarily not because he won't have Beal's pair of hands to get Team USA buckets in Japan, but because it pains him to see the player miss an opportunity of a lifetime to represent the country in the world's largest sporting event.
Via Dan Feldman of NBC Sports:
“I’m dying for him. We all are. Since he’s a little kid, this has been a dream of his. He was playing great. He was having fun, being a big part of us coming together chemistry-wise and as a family. So, for him and his family, immediate family, it’s devastating. So, we just feel horrible about it.”
Team USA, which has won the gold in the men's basketball tournament in all iterations of the Olympics since 2008, will face France in their first game in Japan on July 25.
Apart from Bradley Beal, Team USA has also parted ways with Cleveland Cavaliers big man Kevin Love, who withdrew from the squad, citing his body's unreadiness for the Olympics.
Team USA remains the heavy favorite to win the gold in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but the gold that was virtually theirs even before each quadrennials in the past appears to be something that Team USA will have to work for way harder this year.
