CGTN Sports Talk: What does Olympic basketball mean to NBA players？

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CGTN Sports Talk EP36 Olympics.mp3

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USA Basketball last week released 57-player finalists for the roster of Team USA that will compete in the Tokyo Olympics. LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, James Harden, name any superstar you can from today's league. Moreover, two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers also revealed that he's willing to join the national team and chase gold in Tokyo.

If you recall, less than two years ago, Team USA just suffered one of the most humiliating failures in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China (ranking No. 7). So are NBA stars so passionate about going to Tokyo because they want to regain what was lost to them? How much does an Olympic gold medal weigh on their mind?

Top L-R: Patrick Ewing, Christian Laettner, Magic Johnson, David Robinson and Karl Malone. Middle L-R: Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, head coach Chuck Daly, Charles Barkley and Chris Mullin. Bottom L-R: Scottie Pippen, John Stockton and Clyde Drexler of Team USA for men's basketball tournament in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. /CFP

Top L-R: Managing Director Jerry Colangelo, assistant coach Mike D'Antoni, assistant coach Nate McMillian, Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Michael Redd, assistant coach Jim Boeheim, and head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Bottom L-R: Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul of Team USA for men's basketball tournament in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. /CFP

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Matthew Watson

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

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