The Golden State Warriors have goals besides winning a third straight NBA title this season.
In addition to three-peating, the Warriors are also hoping to land five of their players on the USA Basketball team before the Basketball World Cup in China this summer.
And, if Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant, and DeMarcus Cousins make Team USA this summer, they’ll have a decent shot of landing on the squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo as well.
The likelihood of Thompson, Curry, Green, Durant, and Cousins all making the cut for the team got even greater yesterday when it was announced that Golden State coach Steve Kerr had been named an assistant on head Team USA coach Gregg Popovich’s staff.
During a conference call, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo revealed all five Golden State players have made it known they are interested in playing for the team.
“The first thing we had to determine, and we think we have a pretty good feel for this, is who’s really committed,” Colangelo said. “Who’s really interested in moving forward with us. There are a lot of candidates on the Warriors who have indicated they wish to be part of it. So as we kind of watch this season, and this is not the secret sauce, but basically we have to monitor what’s happening during the course of the regular season in the NBA as it relates to injuries, as it relates to other circumstances that come up before we get down to really inviting the number of individuals that we plan to, to come to our camp next summer in preparation for the World Cup.”
Colangelo did say Kerr wasn’t chosen to help convince his star players to join Team USA.
The Golden State Warriors open the NBA season on Tuesday vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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