With the Olympics returning once more this summer in Paris, France; it also means the return of the USA men’s basketball team.

Several NBA superstars have expressed their interest in participating in the 2024 Olympic games, with a list of 28 finalists displayed on the USA Basketball website. However, only 12 of these players will make the team.

Several of the finalists have competed in the Olympic games in the past such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and Damian Lillard. 

The head coach of the USA Basketball team this summer will be Steve Kerr, who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. Kerr has won five championship rings of his own as a player, and has won four championships as a coach.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the USA Basketball team and they have won a total of 16 gold medals.

WJPS 12th grader, Daniel Braddish said, “This feels like the ‘Redeem Team’ all over again. It’ll be fun to see all the stars.”

WJPS 12th grader, Oliver Gonzalez said, “We’ll remind the world why the USA is unmatched when it comes to basketball.”

“Mansoor Ahmed photos of Team USA basketball at London 2012 Olympics” by Christopher Johnson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.