With determination to protect the gold medal in the 5×5 men’s basketball event, the US basketball team will bring to the 2024 Paris Olympics the best players they own, a squad that can be considered an NBA All-Star.

On April 17, the US team officially announced the 12-man squad with a trio of stars led by superstar LeBron James, 3-point record holder Stephen Curry and reigning NBA MVP midfielder Joel Embiid.

The rest of the roster includes stars Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis and finally Kawhi Leonard.

All players announced by the US team have appeared in the All-Star, All-NBA, and All-NBA Defensive Team teams. Some players have been MVPs like LeBron James, Defensive Player of The Year like Kawhi Leonard, scoring champion like Kevin Durant and NBA Finals MVP like Stephen Curry.

The captain of the American basketball team is Mr. Steve Kerr, who is working at the Golden State Warriors. The assistant team will include coach Tyronn Lue (LA Clippers), coach Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat) and coach Mark Few (Gonzaga University).

LeBron James is expected to be the captain of the US team, marking his fourth appearance at the Olympics. Previously, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar won gold medals in 2008 and 2012.

Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Bam Adebayo are five players returning to the US team after the campaign to win the Tokyo Olympic gold medal in 2021. Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton are two young stars chosen to join the team. Both played for the national team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Unlike the “A-list stars” of the US team, this summer Stephen Curry will experience the Olympic atmosphere for the first time. Previously, he was on the national team but only played in the FIBA World Cup and won 2 gold medals.

Another notable name is Joel Embiid, who caused controversy when he was born in Cameroon, holds French and American citizenship and then chose the US national team to compete in the Olympics. This is also Embiid’s first Olympics in a career spanning from 2014 to present.

Bringing a very strong squad to Paris is the US team’s preparation for one of the Olympics that is considered relatively difficult.

Many serious opponents like France, Serbia or neighbor Canada will have a quality squad, led by stars like Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama (host France, Nikola Jokic (Serbia) or Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Jamal Murray (Canada).