The word on the street is that LeBron James is building one last superteam, but this time, it won’t be an NBA one. According to reporting from The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Joe Vardon, James is recruiting a cavalcade of superstars to help Team USA win the Gold in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Sources: LeBron James wants to represent Team USA at 2024 Paris Olympics and is spearheading group of future Hall of Famers – including Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant – prepared to commit.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 11, 2023
Full details with @joevardon at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/r2XGO3E2TO
As the article linked above reads, James is in the process of recruiting Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, and Draymond Green to join him in Paris for the 2024 Olympics. And from the looks of things, it appears that they are willing to commit to James’ crusade.
On top of that, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, De’Aaron Fox, and Kyrie Irving have all expressed interest in joining the team as well. If all ten of those guys commit, that leaves just two spots on Team USA’s roster for the 2024 Olympics.
Bam Adebayo, Desmond Bane, and Joel Embiid have all also expressed interest. And based on how well he played during the FIBA World Cup, one would assume that Team USA would be interested in bringing Anthony Edwards back into the mix.
That is 14 names we just mentioned. As a website dedicated to the coverage of the New Orleans Pelicans, one can’t help but notice the absence of one Brandon Ingram from that list.
We can’t say we’re surprised, either. While we are on the record as saying what happened this summer was not Ingram’s fault, he was still a prominent part of a team that vastly underperformed. After Sunday’s loss to their North American friends, Team USA couldn’t even come home with the Bronze medal in FIBA.
On an individual level, Ingram wasn’t exactly a box score monster. In six games of international play, Ingram averaged just 5.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 2.7 APG on 48.4% shooting from the floor (27.3% from three) in 16.2 minutes of action per contest. And midway through the tournament Ingram was moved out of the starting lineup in favor of former Pelican Josh Hart.
There are still many months before Team USA’s roster for the 2024 Olympics will be finalized, but as of right now, Ingram’s chances of returning to the team appear grim.