USA Basketball announced the 30 finalist for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball team on Monday.
The final 12-man roster will be selected this summer. The 30 finalists are LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks), Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder), Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers), Kawhi Leonard and LeMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs), Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Harrison Barnes (Golden State Warriors), Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love (Cavaliers), Dwight Howard and James Harden (Houston Rockets), Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans), Paul George (Indiana Pacers), DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay (Sacramento Kings), John Wall and Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls), Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies), DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors), Andre Drummond (Detriot Pistons), Kenneth Faried (Denver Nuggets), and Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz), according to the Associated Press.
Kobe Bryant, who is retiring at the end of this season, took himself out of the running on Saturday. If James and Anthony make the final roster then they would be the first Americans to play in four Olympics.
"This selection process was difficult from the start, and obviously it is only going to get more difficult as we look to get to the official, 12-man roster," Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is coaching Team USA for the last time, said in a statement. "I'm excited about the possibilities this team has. Among the finalists we have multiple players who won gold medals at the Olympic or World Cup level. The roster of finalists features incredible talent, great balance, outstanding leadership, and I believe, like we had with our previous teams, this team will have a special chemistry.”
Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Derrick Rose, and Damian Lillard are other notable names that didn’t make the cut in addition to Bryant. The list of finalists includes players who have won 29 Olympic or FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medals as well as nine players from the 2012 London Olympic team who won the gold medal. Team USA is 45-3 in six Olympics with five gold medals and one bronze since NBA players began representing the United States in 1992, according to Yahoo Sports.
Team USA will begin training camp in July.
The Rio Olympics will be held Aug. 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro.