Piece by Anthony Del Trecco
You may have been hearing about the USA Select Team. For those who don’t know, this is a team of mostly young players and some overseas veterans that are practicing against the 2021 Olympic team to prep for the games.
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is the head coach of the team, while Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and NBA assistant coach Jamahl Mosely are serving as assistants.
The roster is made up of the following players:
Saddiq Bay, Detroit Pistons
Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers
Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings
Tyler Herro, Miami Heat
John Jenkins, Bilabo Basket, Italy
Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
Josh Magette, Darüşşafaka Tekfen, Turkey
Dakota Mathias, Philadelphia 76ers
Immanuel Quickly, New York Knicks
Naz Reid, Minnesota Timberwolves
Cam Reynolds, Houston Rockets
Isaiah Stewart, Detroit Pistons
Obi Toppin, New York Knicks
PJ Washington, Charlotte Hornets
Patrick Williams, Chicago Bulls
Due to COVID protocols and injuries, some of these players haven’t been available for very long. The goal of this was to give the US team solid competition while training in Las Vegas before the start of the exhibition games with other countries. Some reports say that there is some optimism that Tyler Herro being on the team may help him reset. There have been some concerns about Herro’s attitude and work ethic as of late, and many view this as a chance for him to come back to Earth a little bit.
The United States is in pursuit of gold for the fourth straight Olympics and are the heavy favorites.