Add Kevin Love and Paul Millsap to the list of guys who have pulled out of the team. This thread already included the news that they asked JJ Redick to play but he is too busy moving his family to Nawlins so he said no. They also asked Montrezl Harrell and he has declined too. To be clear, Harrell is not even a starter (he's one of the best subs in the league, but still) and yet he does not want to even try out for Team USA.
We are still the overwhelming favorite. I mean, even if there are games where we don't have the best player on the floor, there will never be a game where Team USA's 3rd or 4th best player isn't miles better than his corresponding opponent and I suspect pretty much every other team in the tourney will have at least 1 starter who would not even make our 12-man roster.As it stands, the participants who haven’t yet bowed out are Mason Plumlee, Jaylen Brown, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Thaddeus Young, Harrison Barnes, Andre Drummond, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, Kyle Lowry, Khris Middleton, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, P.J. Tucker, Myles Turner, and Kemba Walker. Soon we’ll hear that Randle “was powerfully passionate about representing his country,” but might have left his oven on and really should go check on it.
-Jason "Still... the lack of patriotism is disappointing. Do these guys get paid by USA Basketball?" Evans