Maybe the best way for Team USA to win a gold medal, ultimately, is to put players on the court who have experience winning the biggest games.
The Ringer podcast host and “Book of Basketball” author Bill Simmons proposed a “crunch time lineup” for Team USA in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris that included five former NBA champions; Los Angeles Lakers teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday and Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant.
Four of the five players have won multiple NBA championships, with Davis winning one title alongside James on the Lakers in 2020. Curry and James are tied for the most titles with 4 apiece.
Team USA went unbeaten in exhibition play and opens Olympic pool play on July 28 against Serbia. Durant hasn’t played yet due to a strained calf but appears on track to return for the Olympics.
“I think (crunch time) it’s KD and Jrue and LeBron and Davis and Curry,” Simmons said on July 25. “I don’t think you can not have Jrue out there though, because you either need him or (Derrick) White because of the defense. One of those guys is going to have to chase (German guard Dennis) Schroeder… it’s going to have to be one of those two.”
Who Takes Over if Durant Can’t Play?
Durant seems like the obvious choice to play in a crunch-time lineup because of his international experience — he’s a three-time Olympic gold medalist and Team USA’s career leading scorer. In the 2020 Olympics, Durant led Team USA in scoring at 20.7 points.
But if he can’t go, the obvious choice to take over in the lineup for him appears to be Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, a 4-time All-NBA Team selection and 5-time NBA All-Star coming off his first NBA championship in 2024.
In an interesting aside, Durant, Tatum and James are the only forwards listed on the Team USA roster, although James isn’t really a true forward as he can take over as the primary ballhandler for Team USA at any given time and led the team in both points (14.2) and assists (3.8) during exhibition play.
Looking Closer at Team USA Minutes From 2020
Taking a closer look at the Team USA minutes from their latest run to the Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Olympics (which were actually played in 2021) shows that five of the six players who led that team in minutes are still on the roster.
Durant led the way with 27.5 minutes, followed by Holiday (25.8), Devin Booker (20.7), Tatum (20.5) and Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (19.3). Only Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (24.2 minutes) is missing from that group of six in 2024.
After playing Serbia in their Olympic opener, Team USA returns to action in pool play on July 31 against South Sudan and closes out pool play against Puerto Rico on Aug. 3.
The knockout stage of Olympic play begins on Aug. 6, with the gold medal game scheduled for Aug. 10 at Accor Arena in Paris.
Team USA is trying to win its fifth consecutive gold medal.
