Admin May 4, 2024
USA Basketball boss Jim Tooley can’t wait to see the likes of LeBron James and Steph Curry bid to put the American team back on top of the world this summer.
James, 39, headlines a formidable USA 12-man squad for Paris 2024 as he bids for a third Olympic title.
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The Beijing 2008 and London 2012 gold medalist is joined by first-time squad member Curry, 36.
USA has called on it’s NBA superstars in a bid for redemption after last year.
An under-strength American side was bounced out at the semifinal stage of the Fiba World Cup in the Philippines last year.
USAB chief executive Tooley told The Sun, “I’m excited to get them together.
“Ten of the 12 have played with us previously and we’re really excited about that commitment that these stars made.
“They’ll start training camp in early July and then we’ll head over to Abu Dhabi and into London before we go down to Paris.
“What we need to continue to do to get back on top is to start with a strong player roster and build continuity as we go through.
“Even though we have a very strong roster, there are several teams that have very strong rosters.
“We’re really excited about the men’s team we’ve announced and the women’s team we’ll announce in June.
“We also have our 3×3 teams – so we’re excited to have a chance to compete for four medals in Paris.”
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The US will complete its preparations for Paris 2024 with two games in London against South Sudan and Germany on July 20 and 22, respectively.
They will then head across the English channel to kickoff their Olympics bid against Serbia, South Sudan, and a qualifier.
Germany is the reigning Fiba World Cup champion after their win over Serbia in last year’s final.
And Tooley is expecting a challenging start to his team’s tournament.
“It’s a great credit to the expansion of the international game that a third of the players in the NBA are international,” he said.
“There’s a number of international athletes in the collegiate game both men and women. The skill level is at an all-time high.
“London will be enormous preparation games – one last game for the women, two last games for the men.
“Really we’re just fine-tuning things before we get to France and the competition starts on July 26.
“We start the Olympic Games with Serbia, they are the World Cup silver medalists.
“We have to be prepared and be ready to go for when the ball goes up in the air.”
Tickets to the The USA Basketball Showcase at the O2 Arena are available to buy at ticketek.co.uk
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