Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives past Alex Caruso #4 of the Los Angeles Lakers during a game at Vivint Smart Home Arena on December 4, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN – NOVEMBER 29: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz shoots ahead of Tyus Jones #21 of the Memphis Grizzlies and Mike Conley #10 of the Utah Jazz during the first half at FedExForum on November 29, 2019 in Memphis, Tennessee. Mitchell and Conley were both announced as finalists to be considered for the 2020 Olympic Basketball Team. (Photo by Brandon Dill/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Utah Jazz guards Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell were named finalists for the 2020 U.S. Olympic basketball team in Tokyo. They are two of the 44 finalists named and approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors.
Other finalists include three-time Olympic champion LeBron James of the Los Angles Lakers, nine previous members of the gold medalist team of the 2016 Olympics, seven previous gold medalists from the 2012 Olympics and all 12 members of the U.S. FIBA World Cup Team from 2019.
“This is the first step in USA Basketball identifying the 12 players who will represent the United States as members of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team in Tokyo,” said Jerry Colangelo, who has served as the managing director of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team since 2005, in a statement obtained by KSL NewsRadio. “The commitment, desire and excitement of all of our athletes to represent their country is genuine and remarkable.
The finalists represent 21 different NBA teams and all the finalists have experience playing internationally or for the USA Basketball National Team. LeBron James has the most experience, playing 68 international games during his career.
“All of the finalists are exceptionally gifted athletes who offer us amazing versatility and depth,” Colangelo said. “The group of finalists features a range of players from those who are very experienced and accomplished in international basketball to players who will be future international stars.”
The official 12-member team that will compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be announced later this year. For now, the board will watch the athletes play during their regular schedules to determine who will be on the official roster.
“Over the course of the remainder of the NBA season we’ll continue to monitor all of the athletes,” Colangelo said. “Selecting the 12-man USA roster will obviously be an extremely challenging and difficult process, and we will again attempt to select the very best team possible to represent our country and who we hope will be successful in our difficult mission of repeating as Olympic champions for a fourth consecutive Olympics.”
The national team’s complete training schedule for 2020 will be announced at a later date.
