LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry… Unlike the 2023 World Cup, Steve Kerr and the decision-makers of Team USA will a priori be spoiled for choice in order to compose the selection which will defend the American colors during the Olympic Games. Paris, in 2024. Even the… Cameroonian Joel Embiid has declared himself a candidate to wear the tunic of the quadruple Olympic champions. Jayson Tatum should be there too and he may not be the only Celtics player working in France. Grant Hill and USA Basketball are pushing to obtain the agreement of Jrue Holiday, who has just arrived in Boston from Milwaukee, with a short stop on the Portland side following the trade of Damian Lillard, sent for his part in the Wisconsin.
According to ESPN, American decision-makers love Holiday, 33, his impact on defense, his game management and his leadership, things that Team USA sorely lacked during the last World Cup. The new Celtics player was also instrumental in winning Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021. USA Basketball officials consider him the second most influential player on the 2021 team after Kevin Durant, still according to ESPN. So, they “hope” to have it next summer, in Lille and Paris. The person concerned has not yet made his decision. 2021 NBA champion with the Bucks, two-time All Star (2013, 2023) and three-time member of the best defensive five of the season in the NBA (2018, 2021 and 2023), Jrue Holiday finished the past season with 19.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game.
