There follows a look at 10 players from the Olympics who are not currently playing in the NBA, but who could be: Guerschon Yabusele, Mathias Lessort and more.
The 2024 Olympic Basketball Tournament is over, and with it, so is all meaningful summer basketball. There are now a couple of months of relative downtime before the majority of the world’s leagues resume play, including the NBA.
Roster construction and scouting, though, never stop. And while the bulk of business is long since done, new information is coming in all the time, and situations are forever fluid. In particular, some players earned themselves some good money with their performances at these Games, and may have played their way onto the NBA radar.
There follows a look at 10 players from the Olympics who are not currently playing in the NBA, but who could be.
The 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics were a huge success. The 2028 LA Olympics are next up for the Summer Games. Relive the magic of 1984.
The people who follow and cover the Olympic Games are calling the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics a rousing success. After the pandemic Olympics of Tokyo (summer of 2021) and then Beijing (winter of 2022) were played before less-than-capacity crowds at a lot of venues, the Olympics needed to feel big again. The Olympics needed huge crowds and a jolt of enthusiasm to capture the popular imagination once again. Paris, in the eyes of most — including longtime sports commentators Bob Costas and Al Michaels — made the Olympics feel big again. The Paris Summer Games felt like a restorative event for the Olympics as a whole. Costas made the comparison between Paris 2024 and the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics as an event which rejuvenated the Olympics. Costas explained that after the terrorist attack at Munich 1972, the budgetary disaster of Montreal 1976, and the boycott of Moscow 1980, the Olympics needed a boost in 1984. Los Angeles delivered it.
Now that Los Angeles is next up for the Summer Olympics in 2028, there’s no better time to relive the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games. Go back in time with this expansive gallery from our photo archives:
The USWNT star’s prediction from her middle school yearbook has come true
Like many kids, Mallory Swanson dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal. On Saturday, the U.S. women’s national team star became one of the rare athletes to actually make that childhood dream come true.
Swanson scored the only goal in the gold medal game, as the USWNT battled to a 1-0 victory over Brazil in Paris.
The strike capped off an excellent tournament for the 26-year-old, who led the team with four goals in France as she delivered a comeback performance for the ages after missing the 2023 World Cup with a knee injury.
The goal also made a dream come true that she articulated in her sixth-grade yearbook. Swanson, née Pugh, posted her yearbook photo on Instagram several years ago, with the caption: “Just a girl with a dream.”
In addition to declaring her favorite sixth-grade memory to be outdoor ed, the youngster also said: “I want to be on the USA soccer team and win a gold medal.”
Roughly 14 years later, Swanson accomplished her lofty goal.
Swanson will add the gold medal to her World Cup title from 2019, as she continues putting together a resume that even her sixth-grade self would have scarcely imagined.
Both gold medalists have signed endorsement deals with the shoe company adidas. Recent reporting suggests that there is potentially animosity between the two, but Lyles is attempting to squash those growing rumors.
Noah Lyles wanted his respect after being invited to an Anthony Edwards event
Included in a recent feature about Lyles is an anecdote about why the sprinter did not attend a shoe-release event for Edwards. Here is more (via TIME):
When Lyles was negotiating an Adidas contract extension last year, the company, he says, threw him what it thought was a bone. Adidas invited him to the shoe-release event for Anthony Edwards, the rising Minnesota Timberwolves star who’s got plenty of talent but, unlike Lyles, isn’t a six-time world champ. “You want to do what?” says Lyles. “You want to invite me to [an event for] a man who has not even been to an NBA Finals? In a sport that you don’t even care about? And you’re giving him a shoe? No disrespect: the man is an amazing athlete. He is having a heck of a year. I love that they saw the insight to give him a shoe, because they saw that he was going to be big. All I’m asking is, ‘How could you not see that for me?’”
His reported comments about Edwards’ signature shoe would add further fuel to that fire, especially because the Timberwolves guard is one of the faces of the brand.
There is a rumor going around that I did not go to @theantedwards_ shoe release because he didn’t deserve it. That is not the case he definitely deserves his shoes he is an amazing player. The problem was finding time based on my prior engagements. Congratulations on Becoming an…
But he is creating some distance between himself and the comments that he allegedly made to TIME. He is now suggesting that he could not attend the event based on scheduling conflicts.
He added that Edwards is an “amazing player” and congratulated the former No. 1 overall pick on also becoming a champion at the Olympics.
We all loved the Australian B-girl breaker who is a 36-year-old lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney — that’s Dr. Rachel Gunn, to you. Even though the Raygun memes of her performance at breaking in Paris are still coming in fast and furious, her return from the Olympics looked like the hero’s welcome she deserved.
Per a TikTok from Australia rower Jean Mitchell, Raygun got cheers as she broke it down one more time … and honestly, her dance there might have been better than the one we saw her do in Paris!
Check this out. And long live Raygun. You are the best:
2028 US Men’s Olympic Basketball team projected to include former Alabama F Herb Jones.
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games officially concluded Sunday evening, but the US Men’s Basketball Team slammed the door shut on the whole event Saturday as they took home the gold medal over host country France.
For the United States, it was the conclusion of this era of basketball as it is likely the last time we will see LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry dawn the red white and blue. This year’s tournament marked the fifth straight gold medal for the US and a staggering eight of the last nine.
The rest of the world continues to get better at a very rapid rate, but with the 2028 Olympic Games taking place on US soil, they will once again be the team to beat. CBS Sports projects what the US roster will look like for the Los Angeles Olympics games. Anthony Edwards and Jason Tatum should both be back with Team USA, but other than them, it could be a whole new cast of players. Sam Quinn of CBS projects former Alabama Crimson Tide SF Herb Jones to be on the team saying,
“Speaking of weaker offensive links, here’s our big bigger wing defender who is also steadily improving but by no means proven shooter. From a rotation stand point, Jones and Suggs would likely be used depending on matchups. Suggs makes more sense against guards. Jones makes more sense against wings or even centersm though he can handle guards quite well in his own right.”
Jones was outstanding for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2023-24 as he averaged 11.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 2.6 apg and was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. The former second-round pick may go down as one of the best value picks in NBA draft history.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.
And now, as we say goodbye to the Summer Olympics in France, there’s one more meme to round up: New Zealand high jumper Hamish Kerr decided to dive UNDER the bar before he’d win a gold medal in the event.
The memes are perfect, and it’s doubly good because maybe Kerr can have a laugh about it while wearing his gold medal.
So here’s a roundup of some of the memes we saw come out of this one:
Taking a look at the best images of Devin Booker and his time with Team USA at the Olympics.
As most people predicted, Team USA took the gold medal in men’s basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics. They defeated France in the final 98 – 87 to take the top spot.
The biggest struggle of the tournament came against Serbia in the semifinal. Team USA fell behind, and needed a big fourth quarter comeback to pull off the win.
Three former Kentucky Wildcats won gold along with Team USA. Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, and Bam Adebayo all contributed to wins along the way, and all three had shining moments throughout the Olympics run. Big Blue Nation had plenty to cheer for.
Booker, in particular, was one of the key players for Team USA. He shot the ball well, played solid defense throughout, and contributed with his passing and rebounding. His play was certainly a big part of their success.
Booker is one of the NBA’s best players, and continued that at the Olympics. Here are some of the best images of Booker from his time in Paris.
NHL players are back in the Olympics in 2026, and flag football is coming in 2028.
Now that the 2024 Paris Olympics are finished, you might be wondering, where are the Olympics heading next?
The 2026 Winter Games are being hosted in Italy in the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. Italy beat out a multi-city bid from Sweden in the selection process. Then, in 2028, the Summer Games are coming back to the United States and will mostly be hosted in Los Angeles, which was unanimously chosen by the International Olympic Committee.
With the events in Paris over, here’s what you need to know about the future Olympics:
1. Italy has a history with the winter Olympics
Biathletes ski during the Women’s 4x6km relay event at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics in Cesana San Sicario, 23 February 2006. Russia took gold with Germany in silver and France taking the bronze. (JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP/Getty Images)
The Olympics in 2026 will mark the 20th anniversary of the 2006 Winter Games held in Turin and the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Winter Games held in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Italy also hosted a Summer Olympics, in 1960 in Rome, so this will mark the fourth time overall that the country has hosted the international sports competition.
2. Other Italian cities will host competitions too in 2026
Not all of the events in the 2026 Winter Games will be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Here’s the breakdown of the other cities and what competitions will be held there.
Livigno: Freestyle Skiing, Snowboarding
Bormio: Alpine Skiing, Ski Mountaineering (making its Olympic debut)
Tesero: Cross-Country Skiing, Nordic Combined
Predazzo: Ski Jumping, Nordic Combined
Anterselva and Antholz: Biathlon
3. NHL players are heading back to the Olympics
Russia forward Alex Ovechkin (8) controls the puck against Slovakia in a men’s preliminary round ice hockey game during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Bolshoy Ice Dome. (Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports)
The world’s best hockey league hasn’t allowed its players to participate in the Olympics since the 2014 games in Sochi. That’s changing in 2026, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced during All-Star Weekend earlier this year. Bettman told the AP:
“Everybody felt on our ownership side that it was the right thing to do. … This really came down to doing something because the players really wanted it.”
However, in February, according to the AP, the 15,000-seat hockey arena that is supposed to host Olympic play in two years was nowhere near being completed.
4. Los Angeles joins an exclusive club in 2028
When the Summer Games come to Los Angeles in 2028, it will join London (1908, 1948, 2012) and Paris (1900, 1924, 2024) as the only cities to host the Olympics three times. Los Angeles previously hosted the summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984.
It will also be the first time the Olympics have been in the U.S. in nearly three decades. The last Olympics hosted in the U.S. were the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
While most of the competitions will be held in and around Los Angeles – or at least in the state of California – two sports will be played states away. Oklahoma City will host softball and canoe slalom.
5. Flag football’s debut
Baseball, softball, cricket and lacrosse will all return to the Olympics in 2028, and two new sports will make their debuts: Squash and flag football.
HoopsHype looks at the national basketball teams with the highest point differentials in Olympic Games history, including the Dream Team and the 2024 team.
With the 2024 Olympic Games from Paris officially wrapped up, we decided to review history and examine the National Teams with the highest point differentials in Olympic basketball history.
Somewhat noteworthy: The 2024 USA Basketball team – despite being as loaded as it was with LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant – had merely the 21st-best point differential in history, which speaks to how far the rest of the world has progressed in basketball. Meanwhile, the Dream Team led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley ranks second in differential… and No. 1 since NBA players compete in the Olympic tournament.
Below, check out the national basketball teams with the best average point differential in Olympic Games history.
