Houston Rockets guards John Wall and Eric Gordon, as well as center Christian Wood, were officially added Thursday to the 2021 USA National Team roster. Within months, the 12-member U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team will be selected from among those 57 finalists.
Veteran guard Victor Oladipo was already on the list of finalists from 2020, which was named prior to the Olympics’ postponement. All finalists will be invited to a summer training camp, at which USA Basketball coaches and executives will begin making their roster judgments.
One benefit to the chances of the Houston group could be the struggles of their NBA team. The Rockets entered Thursday with the NBA’s third-worst record (11-23), which makes it very unlikely for them to play in the 2021 playoffs. Because of the league’s delayed start to the 2020-21 season, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, players on teams that play deep into the playoffs — which will run well into July — likely won’t be available for the Tokyo Olympics, which will also start in July.
Here’s a look at average per-game statistics in the 2020-21 NBA season for the four Rockets on the list of finalists:
John Wall: 21.0 points, 6.0 assists
Christian Wood: 22.0 points (55.8% FG, 42.1% on 3-pointers), 10.2 rebounds, 1.5 blocks
Eric Gordon: 17.8 points, 2.7 assists
Victor Oladipo: 19.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.4 steals
Only the Brooklyn Nets, with six players listed on the U.S. announcement, have more players among finalists than the Rockets (four).
The complete list of finalists can be viewed below.
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https://twitter.com/davidaldridgedc/status/1370044907210092546
https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1370044967423332356