US announce Olympic men's basketball team

ANKARA

The US on Monday named its Olympic men's basketball team for the Tokyo 2020 games.

In a statement, USA Basketball said that the 12-man roster includes two-time Olympic gold medalist Kevin Durant, who currently plays for the Brooklyn Nets.

The 32-year-old forward previously bagged Olympic gold medals for his nation in the London 2012 and Rio 2016. He also helped the US take the gold at the 2010 FIBA World Cup held in Turkey.

Besides Durant, the US roster for the Olympics also includes Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Jerami Grant (Detroit Pistons), Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers), Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks), and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics).

The team will be led by head coach Gregg Popovich from the San Antonio Spurs.

"I’m happy for the selected players and looking forward to having the opportunity to work with this wonderful group when practice gets underway on July 6 in Las Vegas," Popovich said, adding that he feels "excited" to represent the US for a gold medal in Japan.

The US basketball team have won medals in all 18 Olympics they competed in, including 15 golds.

They bagged one silver medal (1972) and two bronzes (1988 and 2004) as well.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics will take place from July 23 to Aug. 8 after being postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.