Grant Hill, managing director of the U.S. men's national basketball team. /CFP
Grant Hill, managing director of the U.S. men's national basketball team (Team USA), expressed his confidence in the team for the coming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and explained why the roster was revealed when the Games is still three months away.
The 12-man roster goes as follows: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Kawhi Leonard, Jrue Holiday and Jayton Tatum.
"We knew," Hill said at a press conference on Wednesday. "We didn't necessarily plan it that way, but we knew this was the team that we wanted, and we also know that there'll be a lot of interest and a lot of people who will want to be along for this incredible journey we're about to be on. So if we know, why wait?"
LeBron James (L) of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns will play for Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. /CFP
Team USA secured qualification for Paris 2024 at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023, but finishing in fourth place at the tournament was far from satisfactory for the country. That's probably why they assembled such a star-studded team that included four NBA Most Valuable Players (MVPs) in James, Durant, Curry and Embiid and four NBA Finals MVPs in James, Durant, Curry and Leonard.
"I learned, certainly the elite teams, the teams that seriously have a chance to contend for a gold medal, I learned the diversity and sort of styles and just the feel of the game overall," Hill said. "You go through a World Cup, you really pick up on quite a bunch."
One major highlight of Team USA's roster is the importance they attach to defense, especially in big-men positions. Embiid, Davis and Adebayo equip the team with various defensive options for different opponents. Moreover, Leonard, Holiday and Edwards can make a top perimeter defensive line.
Joel Embiid (L) of the Philadelphia 76ers and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers will play for Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. /CFP
"[Defense] was certainly an area where we needed to be better on and to improve upon, and we have guys that have that as a foundation. ..." Hill said at the press conference. "The game is much more physical than the NBA game. And so, being aware of that, having guys whose games would translate on that level on the defensive side and offensive side was important. So yes, this is not a knock on any team that we've had in the past, but I'm really excited about the defensive potential of this group as we work together and prepare ourselves for Paris."
The Olympic men's basketball gold medal has been dominated by USA since 2008, a winning streak that neither Hill nor coach Steve Kerr want to have ended. For Team USA, it's never a problem to put the world's best players on a team. Nonetheless, how to make them play like a team is a different question.
"Let's start the process of becoming a team," Hill said. "And even just in announcing it early, we'll try to, at some point here, it'll be tricky with schedules, but jump on a Zoom with all the coaches, all the players, and just not have them sort of speak and talk – not have them hear from us – for the first time in July."