USA Basketball makes Olympics roster official, with LeBron James to return and Steph Curry to debut

There’s no shortage of star power on USA Basketball’s Olympics roster.

The U.S. on Wednesday officially announced its 12-man team for this summer’s Paris Games, with LeBron James set to appear in his first Olympics in over a decade and Steph Curry slated to make his long-awaited Olympics debut.

Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker and Bam Adebayo — who led the U.S. to a gold medal at the COVID-delayed 2020 Olympics — are all set to return this year, while Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton will make their Olympic debuts.

Anthony Davis, who represented Team USA in the 2012 Games, is also on the roster for the first time since then.

“My staff and I are honored to coach this amazing group of players in our quest to win Olympic gold in Paris,” head coach Steve Kerr said in a statement Wednesday. “We plan to represent USA Basketball with the utmost class and we hope to make our country proud.”

Officially left off of the Olympics roster were the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson and the Nets’ Mikal Bridges, who both competed on the 2023 FIBA Basketball World team that failed to medal.

James, 39, won gold medals with Team USA in 2008 and 2012 after making his Olympics debut with the star-studded 2004 team that disappointed en route to a bronze.

Durant, 35, helped lead the U.S. to the gold in each of his three Olympics appearances in 2012, 2016 and 2020, averaging 19.7 points per game. He is USA Basketball’s all-time leading scorer in the Olympics with 435 points.

The 35-year-old Curry, a four-time NBA champion, previously missed the cut for the 2012 Olympics before skipping the 2016 Games with knee and ankle injuries. Curry, 35, also declined to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which ultimately took place in 2021 due to the pandemic, later telling reporters it “just wasn’t right for me.”

Embiid, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, chose to represent Team USA over France.

A gold medal in this year’s Olympics — scheduled to take place from July 26 to Aug. 11 — would mark the fifth in a row and 17th overall for USA Basketball.