Team USA Articles - Page 27

On Friday night at the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Lakers played their first game since the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant. The icon superstar’s death sent shockwaves throughout the city as well as the storied franchise and its players. Anthony Davis is one of those players that was heavily impacted by Bryant’s tragedy, and […]

Amid the tragic passing of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, USA Basketball released a statement regarding the tragedy. “USA Basketball has lost a real champion,” the statement from USA Basketball started. “Women’s sports has lost one of their strongest advocates. Professional sports has lost a true legend who used his stature to make a […]

Jaylen Brown put some extra work this summer playing for Team USA, committing six weeks of his summer to bond with fellow Boston Celtics teammates Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, and Jayson Tatum — though he wound up devastated by finishing seventh in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the lowest finish ever by a U.S. team in a […]

Miami Heat rising star Bam Adebayo didn’t make the Team USA FIBA World Cup roster this past summer, and it may have been a good thing. Adebayo says losing out on a roster spot to Brook Lopez and Miles Plumlee left a “bigger chip on my shoulder,” via Marc Stein of The New York Times: […]

Former NBA head coach Mike Fratello has been announced by USA Basketball as the head coach of the Men’s National Team that will suit up for the February 2020 FIBA AmeriCup qualifying games, per the organization. USA Basketball also named Andy Greer and Othella Harrington as Fratello’s assistant coaches. The hire means fellow ESPN analyst […]

Boston Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum says playing for Team USA this summer helped build his confidence as a basketball player. By all accounts, Tatum has been one of the most impressive players in Celtics training camp thus far. In Boston’s preseason opener against the Charlotte Hornets, Tatum showed off his growth by pouring in […]

Team USA had a lot of trouble getting NBA stars to play in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. All of a sudden, nearly everyone wants to join next year’s “Redeem Team” in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The latest to do so is Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon, who said that he “would love” to play for […]

Khris Middleton was one of the players tapped by Team USA to play in the FIBA World Cup when almost every NBA superstar said no to the team. Unfortunately, the squad didn’t perform up to expected standards, finishing in seventh place. Now that almost the entire NBA wants to be on Team USA for the […]

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo showed a distinct disappointment after witnessing the wave of withdrawals from consideration for the recent FIBA 2019 World Cup and a subsequent enthusiastic desire from players to be considered for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It didn’t take long for NBA stars to quickly throw their name into the […]

Team USA placed a lowly seventh in this year’s FIBA World Cup after numerous stars backed out of participation. Team USA was still the favorite entering the tournament, but most believe the poor showing was because of the weakened roster. However, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James doesn’t buy that narrative. The three-time NBA champ […]

With Team USA’s flameout in the FIBA World Cup this summer, many are wondering just which NBA players will head to Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics, as most of the big names decided not to play this year. Naturally, LeBron James is one of the first names to come to mind, but given that he […]

Houston Rockets All-Star James Harden spoke with members of the media on Friday morning as part of media day. During his appearance, the former No. 3 overall pick noted that he would like to play in Tokyo’s 2020 Olympics: Harden said playing on the Olympic team is "one of my goals." — Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) […]

New Miami Heat addition Jimmy Butler claims he will “most definitely” consider playing for Team USA for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Other stars like Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Donovan Mitchell are among the group already saying they want in on the upcoming opportunity. Butler […]

Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson is hoping to play alongside his teammate, Stephen Curry, at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Curry has already made it clear that he plans to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games. Assuming he stays healthy, Thompson has the same goal: Via Marcus Thompson of The Athletic: “That […]

Klay Thompson was forced to watch Team USA’s quest for gold at the 2019 FIBA World Cup from home, after tearing his ACL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals and needing surgery to follow. While others with much healthier summers turned down the option to play with Team USA, Thompson admitted it was tough […]

Boston Celtics big man Enes Kanter says he was rooting for Team USA to beat Turkey in the FIBA World Cup. USA won by a final score of 93-92 in overtime. Kanter was rooting for the Americans because four of his new Celtics teammates — Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart — […]

Team USA has managed to keep its longtime spot as the best team in the world in the updated FIBA rankings despite a disappointing seventh-place finish in the recent 2019 World Cup, according to The Associated Press. The Americans lost to France in the quarterfinals and then Serbia in the consolation bracket, only salvaging a […]

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has already made his intentions to play for Team USA abundantly clear, but despite a seventh-place finish at the FIBA World Cup a few weeks ago, he’s still unequivocally confident the Americans are still the hunted rather than the hunters: “We’re still the best,” Curry told ESPN’s Nick […]

Chicago Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine has begun to understand how NBA players are often judged in the large scope of earning awards, making All-Star teams, and earning call-ups for Team USA. LaVine has been an otherworldly talent with ridiculous ups, a great penchant for scoring the ball, and awesome athleticism, but he has yet […]

Team USA’s seventh-place finish in the 2019 FIBA World Cup is bound to be a thorn in the side of USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo, who noted this underwhelming performance in competition will bother him until next year’s Olympics: “There has not been any disappointment around USA Basketball in a while,” Colangelo told Chris […]

Damian Lillard has a stint with Team USA in his future sights, with every intention to don the red, white and blue during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Portland Trail Blazers guard was one of the many familiar faces missing from the convocation process in Las Vegas last month, but he’s hopeful to participate in […]

Team USA had a disappointing stint in the recently concluded FIBA World Cup in China. They finished seventh in the overall rankings, which was far from the podium finish that fans had hoped and expected from them. Still, Team USA forward and Sacramento Kings vet Harrison Barnes believes they have nothing to be ashamed of. […]

Boston Celtics point guard Kemba Walker was supposed to be the leader and the star for a young Team USA roster at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. This summer marked Walker’s first opportunity to prove himself with Team USA on the international stage. However, while he played well for much of the tournament, he and […]

The 2019 FIBA World Cup did not quite go as expected for Team USA. Before the competition even began, marquee stars like Anthony Davis and James Harden declared that they would not be participating in an effort to rest their bodies and prepare for the 2019-20 NBA season. Just days before being selected for the […]

Fans have begun to play the blame game after Team USA finished a lowly seventh place in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich, however, isn’t putting the blame on anyone, including those who initially dropped out prior to the tournament. “I don’t fault anybody that decided not to come — […]

A Team USA spokesman says USA Basketball is not angry with Sacramento Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox. Fox withdrew from the FIBA World Cup to focus on the upcoming Kings season. Some panelists on ESPN wondered if Fox would ever garner consideration from Team USA again after his sudden withdrawal. It doesn’t look like that […]

Golden State Warriors superstar point guard Stephen Curry is expected to play for Team USA in the 2020 Olympics, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times. Curry has never played in the Olympics for Team USA. He was part of the 2014 USA squad which won gold at the FIBA World Cup. Draymond […]

Utah Jazz shooting guard Donovan Mitchell expects Team USA to come back stronger for the 2020 Olympics next summer after placing seventh in the FIBA World Cup. Mitchell doesn’t know if he’s going to be on the squad that goes to Tokyo, but he would like to help Team USA redeem itself and win gold […]

With their win over Poland, Team USA officially finished seventh in this year’s FIBA World Cup, their worst placing in any international competition. American fans weren’t too happy about how their squad performed in this year’s World Cup and lambasted them for their lowly finish. Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich didn’t take the backlash […]

Kobe Bryant is not resentful of the players that pulled out from consideration for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, but rather is understanding of the situations that kept them from participating in this venture. USA Basketball only mustered Kemba Walker as the only member of the roster that had All-NBA honors, a vast difference with […]

Kobe Bryant was among the most understanding legends of the sport to sympathize with Team USA in its recent failure to medal at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The sentiment at large is that USA Basketball couldn’t send the best team the United States could have brought to compete, but Bryant noted a stacked 2008 […]

Team USA has tumbled out of the FIBA World Cup, but they are still in China to figure out their final placement in the tournament. Given the lesser stakes, Donovan Mitchell took to Twitter to dispell some rumors involving Kemba Walker. Basktball YouTuber BBALLBREAKDOWN took to Twitter to point out a specific interaction between the […]

Team USA is in the midst of a shocking losing streak at the FIBA World Cup, first losing to France in the quarterfinals and then falling to Serbia. This is the first time the men’s basketball team will not be winning an award at a major competition since 2002. Pundits and fans expressed their disappointment […]

Before Team USA lost to Serbia on Thursday, head coach Gregg Popovich had a funny interaction with Serbia’s Sasha Djordjevic. Team USA and Serbia were considered the big favorites to face each other in the World Cup Final. However, both teams underwhelmed in the tournament and faced each other in the classification round instead. Popovich, […]

Twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris believe a struggling Team USA should have invited Carmelo Anthony to take part in the FIBA World Cup. The four-time Olympian and three-time gold-medal-winner hoped that USA Basketball would still have a spot available for him as a storied leading scorer, but the organization turned it down swiftly, appreciating […]

The current iteration of Team USA (or what is left of it) has managed to fall not only out of the podium of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, but also out of the top six altogether after a 94-89 loss to Serbia on Thursday. There is very little honor to rescue fighting for seventh place, […]

For the first time since 2002, Team USA has lost two consecutive games at the FIBA World Cup. To some basketball aficionados, this was an expected result for the American side, as the team was without several of its regular NBA stars. For Donovan Mitchell, though, losing two in a row comes with a sharp […]

Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich has been at the very center of the national team’s most recent foray into international competition, taking most of the credit — and lately, the blame — for his team’s performances in the FIBA World Cup in China. However, what might not be common knowledge for some is the […]

Jerry Colangelo, managing director for USA basketball, was not in a jovial mood after Team USA’s second consecutive loss in the FIBA World Cup. The Americans lost again on Thursday, as they fell to Serbia, 94-89. Following another disappointing loss, Colangelo made it clear that he is still feeling aggrieved by the sheer amount of […]