Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
“They’re crazy not to use our athletes as the U.S. Olympic team in 3-on-3,” Ice Cube told me. “The last two Olympics have been a disaster for USA when it comes to what USA Basketball has been putting together to represent the US. I hope they have a ‘come-to-Jesus moment’ and realize that we have the best 3-on-3 players in the world. It’s not even close. They should use our athletes to represent the U.S., especially on U.S. soil. Will they do that or not? Egos may win and prevail, and the U.S. will suffer because of that.”
USA Basketball today announced the 12-man roster and coaching staff for the August 2026 USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Window 4 Team, which will play at Chile and host Colombia on Aug. 27 and Aug. 31, respectively. The 12 athletes have professional experience in the NBA, NBA G League and internationally with eight players having prior USA Basketball experience. The August 2026 USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team includes Jaron Blossomgame, Pedro Bradshaw, Garrison Brooks, Darius Brown, Kevon Harris, Mike James, DeJon Jarreau, Dillon Jones, James Nunnally, Orlando Robinson, Tyler Smith and Cole Swider.
Former NBA head coach Terry Stotts will be at the helm, serving his first coaching assignment for USA Basketball. He will be assisted by Clay Moser and Marlon Garnett, who assisted in Windows 1-3. Jonathan Yim, who brings NBA, NBA G League, NCAA and international coaching experience, will make his USA Basketball debut as a scout.
2028 Draft: It's not out of the question that Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje can reach the level of predecessors Cooper Flagg or Cameron Boozer in terms of college impact. Some scouts view him as that caliber of talent, although he will arrive at Duke a year earlier and can't be held to the same standard right away. The dearth of elite bigs coming up through the domestic ranks makes Boumtje-Boumtje's arrival all the more notable -- not just for the future of the NBA, but quite possibly for USA Basketball, which will have to contend with Victor Wembanyama over the next decade-plus. Boumtje-Boumtje looks like the clear front-runner for No. 1 two years from now. How he adjusts to college at 17 years old will be fascinating, but expect him to be a quick study.
Advertisement
The 2016-17 Warriors might be the greatest team of all time, but Kevin Durant believes the 2026-27 76ers are as good on paper. Durant implied that's what he thought during a USA Basketball event on Sunday, and he doubled down on Monday when replying to a fan on Instagram who said the two teams "ain't close." "Ain’t close lmao," Durant replied. "Joel, mvp recently. Jaylen brown, recent finals mvp, Tyrese Maxey, all star the last 3 years. We all know what bron does. Klay Thompson, never a mvp candidate in nothing, 22ppg. Draymond, 14ppg 7 rebounds 6 assist, Steph a mvp just like Joel was. I don’t get how the warriors team is better on paper."
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant said Saturday that LeBron James and the new-look Philadelphia 76ers have the offensive firepower to compete for the 2027 NBA championship. What's more, Durant evoked his two Golden State Warriors championship teams, which also featured Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, when praising the combined scoring prowess of Philadelphia's James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. "The last time they put three 20-point scorers on a team, they said it was unfair, which was the [Warriors] team I was on," Durant said at a USA Basketball event Saturday. "[The 76ers] have got four 25-point scorers on this team. So, hell yeah, I think they're going to be a contender. They're going to be a fun team to watch. It's going to be League Pass-worthy."
Durant and James won gold medals as teammates in the 2012 London and 2024 Paris Olympics. "It's really on [USA Basketball managing director] Grant Hill and what Team USA wants to do," Durant said. "I stay on top of my game and hopefully I get that call, but there's so many great players who deserve to be on the team."
Grant Hill: 'Contrary to popular belief, I do like Jaylen Brown. I love his game, and things got difficult there with that team. In putting the team together, just to give some context, we had Kawhi Leonard on that penciled in on that team, and he got hurt at the end of that season in 2024. He came to camp, he wasn't right, and so we had to pivot. A couple of things happened at that camp, and people want to believe what they want to believe, but at the end of the day, Kevin Durant showed up, he was hurt. He had a grade one calf strain, and I think we all have PTSD from the last time he had a calf strain, so we were very patient with him. Jayson Tatum had just had a baby, so he showed up late. Joel Embiid was, you know, we knew we were managing him, but we needed him for Nikola Jokic against Serbia, because that was the matchup. We didn't have our full roster, and then we started looking around and saying, oh man, like Jrue Holiday was so important for us in the FIBA game. A point guard who can play his role, ball pressure, the whole nine. If Jrue got hurt, our point guards were Jrue Holiday and Stephen Curry, and defense wasn't necessarily their strong point. It was like, okay, let's bring in insurance for Jrue Holiday and like Derrick White. So that was the thought process.'
NBA Courtside: Grant Hill on Jaylen Brown not being on the USA team: “When I announced then team, there were certain guys that I called before Woj and Shams broke it. And I called like Lillard, I called Jimmy Butler, I tried to call everybody because you never know when they’re going to break it. And you want to give guys the respect to hear it from me. I called Jaylen. We had a great conversation. Unbelievable conversation. And so something got lost there. And the implication that like a shoe company like to me that, look you guys can criticize my leadership. You can criticize the ability to put together a roster. When you’re in a role that I’m in, you open yourself up to criticism and I accept that. But to imply that like a shoe company told me what to do. Now you questioning my character, and that was the things that was weird.” (Via @RoadTrippinShow)
Advertisement
Dave McMenamin: LeBron James is asked his favorite team he’s ever played for and brings up the Heatles, the 2016 Cavs and the 2020 Lakers. Then he adds the 2008 Redeem Team. No clues given.
"Did you play with Cooper in the summer? Were you in those practices with USA Basketball?" LeBron James: "Yeah, he was on the development team, on the select team we call them. Yeah, and he played extremely well, man. I've been watching Cooper for a few years because my son played AAU basketball on the Nike EYBL circuit. Bronny, so we would be in tournaments either in Peach Jam in Georgia or Kansas City or Dallas or Indianapolis and Cooper, unlike a lot of kids, he played for his team out of Maine. A lot of these kids are going to be recruited, but him and his brother and a bunch of those guys they grew up with played on, I think they were called Maine Select or something like that, but he made them competitive versus teams that were stacking teams. I thought that was super cool because that was how I was. I played for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars. Me and my guys grew up playing together and having to play all the best teams in the country. I just thought that was super cool, but he's a big-time talent."
