Report: Warriors Star Draymond Green Greenlights Olympic Team; Steph Curry Still On The Fence
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is ready to defend the Olympic basketball gold medal he won in Rio, but teammate Steph Curry still remains on the fence as to whether he will join the team which will begin play in late July in Tokyo.
According to The Athletic, both Green and Oakland's Damian Lillard have committed to playing for Team USA.
Green played a backup role in Rio, averaging about 10 minutes of court time a game as the US team steamrolled to the gold medal. He scored 1.9 points, pulled down 2.1 rebounds and averaged just over 1 assist a game. He joined teammate Klay Thompson and then teammate Kevin Durant on the 2016 gold medal squad.
Meanwhile, Curry has never played on the Olympic Team but has said in recent years it's something he wants to do. But the NBA scoring champ and two-time MVP has so far been non-committal in terms of playing in Tokyo.
The U.S. team will open on July 25th against a French team that may include NBA defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz) along with Frank Ntilikina (New York Knicks), Evan Fournier (Boston Celtics), Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers) and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (Brooklyn Nets).
Gobert, Batum and Luwawu-Cabarrot are all still playing in the NBA playoffs.
USA Basketball had selected 57 finalists for its roster in March, but it still is not known exactly who will opt-in to tryout for the squads. Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis have withdrawn their names as has injured Nets star James Hardin.
Deep playoff runs could also impact Los Angeles Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Durant and his teammates Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris and Suns star Devin Booker's desire to play in the Games.
