The 2024 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team will begin exhibition play against Canada in Las Vegas Wednesday evening with a roster including LeBron James and his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis.
The 39-year-old James will become the oldest player in U.S. men’s national team history when he takes the court at T-Mobile Arena, breaking the previous record set by Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who was 37 when he played in the 2002 FIBA World Cup.
This is the fourth Olympic selection for James, a member of the U.S. gold medal-winning 2008 and 2012 teams and the 2004 team that won the bronze medal.
Davis was also a member of the 2012 team.
USA Basketball announced Wednesday that Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will not be a part of the team after “USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it’s in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris.”
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White was selected to replace Leonard on the roster.
White is among the five first-time Olympians on the team, along with Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
There is a third player on the team with a Los Angeles tie, Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, a former standout at UCLA and Campbell Hall School in Studio City.
Holiday is among five members of the gold medal-winning team from the Tokyo Olympics seeking a second consecutive gold medal, along with Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Phoenix forward Kevin Durant, also a member of the 2012 and 2016 gold medal-winning teams.
Durant will miss Wednesday’s game because of a left calf strain.
The team has six players who have won a combined 14 NBA championships, the most combined championships and NBA champions entering an Olympic tournament in USA Basketball history.
White is the lone player on the 12-player who has not been an NBA all-star. The squad has combined to have 78 All-Star Game appearances. No other team in USA Basketball history has combined to have over 70 combined all-star appearances.
The U.S. is coached by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, an alum of what is now known as Palisades Charter High School. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue is among the assistant coaches, along with Gonzaga coach Mark Few and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
Canada’s 15-player roster includes 10 NBA players, among them Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks, best remembered by Lakers fans for calling James old following Game 2 of a 2023 first-round playoff series when he played for the Memphis Grizzlies, and for getting ejected in Game 3 after receiving a flagrant foul for hitting James in the groin.
The team is coached by Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernández.
The U.S. tops the rankings under FIBA, basketball’s international governing body and based on results in official FIBA competitions and their qualifiers over an eight-year-period. Canada is ranked seventh.
The 7:30 p.m. game will be televised by FS1.
The exhibition is the first of five for the U.S., which will next play Australia Monday at 9 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The Americans will begin Olympic play July 28 against Serbia in Lille, France, where group play will be held. The knockout and medal rounds of the 5×5 Olympic tournament will be played in Paris.
The U.S. has won four consecutive Olympic gold medals in 5×5 men’s basketball and seven of the eight since professionals were first allowed to play in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
