Paris 2024, Steve Kerr loses a key piece of his Dream Team

Kawhi Leonard will not go to Paris

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The United States national basketball team, the Dream Team formed by NBA stars, will have to do without one of its star men, Kawhi Leonard, in the Paris 2024 Olympic tournament. In his place will be Derrick White, one of the stars of the winning ride to the Larry O'Brien Trophy completed by the Boston Celtics.

"Kawhi had been preparing for the Olympics for the past few weeks and had been training very well in Las Vegas,” reads a USA Basketball memo released on Wednesday evening in Italy. He felt ready to take the court. However, he took note of the decision by USA Basketball and the Clippers to have him spend, in his own best interest, the rest of the summer depending on preparation for next season, rather than have him participate in the Paris Olympic Games".

The decision, in short, è functional to the certainty that Leonard, who during his career has often had to manage himself physically due to a few too many injuries, can start the Los Angeles Clippers’ 2024/25 season smoothly. In the season just ended, the former Spurs and Raptors player missed games that later proved decisive in the playoffs.

The 12 Team USA call-ups by head coach Steve Kerr are thus Bam Adebayo (Center, Miami Heat), Devin Booker (Guard, Phoenix Suns), Stephen Curry (Guard, Golden State Warriors), Anthony Davis (Wing/Center, Los Angeles Lakers), Kevin Durant (Wing, Phoenix Suns), Anthony Edwards (Guard, Minnesota Timberwolves), Joel Embiid (Center, Philadelphia 76ers), Tyrese Haliburton (Guard, Indiana Pacers), Jrue Holiday (Guard, Boston Celtics), LeBron James (Wing, Los Angeles Lakers), Jayson Tatum (Wing, Boston Celtics) and Derrick White (Guard, Boston Celtics).