(Reuters) – LeBron James and Stephen Curry headlined the 41-player pool revealed by USA Basketball on Tuesday in the first step toward assembling the team that will seek the gold medal in the men’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The pool, from which a 12-member team will be selected, includes 28 players who have represented the United States at an Olympics and/or the FIBA Basketball World Cup and who together have collected 23 Olympic or World Cup gold medals.
The United States won a fourth consecutive Olympic title at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and last year finished fourth at the Basketball World Cup.
“I am thrilled that many of the game’s superstars have expressed interest in representing our country at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games,” Team USA managing director Grant Hill said in a news release.
“It is a privilege to select the team that will help us toward the goal of once again standing atop the Olympic podium.
“This challenging process will unfold over the next several months as we eagerly anticipate the start of national team activity.”
Four-times NBA champion James has not played for Team USA since he won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics while Curry, the NBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers, has never represented the United States at an Olympics.
Among the other players on the list are Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Kyrie Irving and Joel Embiid, whose 70 points on Monday set a Philadelphia 76ers’ franchise record.
The national team will be led by head coach Steve Kerr, who holds the same position with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
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