Photo Credit: FIBA
NBA Stars Withdrawing From 2019 Team USA World Cup Team
On August 5, Team USA will start their Las Vegas training camp for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The problem – more and more stars are withdrawing from Team USA 2019.
Back in March, Kobe Bryant had a message for Team USA 2019, he said:
“Be ready, parity is unlike it’s ever been before. You’re playing for your country, that can’t be understated. It’s our small role doing what we can for our great nation. If you’re healthy enough to play, you absolutely should play.”
It seems as today’s NBA stars didn’t exactly listen to Kobe Bryant, or maybe not have the ‘Mamba Mentality’.
In these past couple of days, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, CJ McCollum, Eric Gordon, Tobias Harris, DeMar DeRozan, and Zion Williamson, have all withdrawn from the team, leaving the current roster with only 2 All-Stars.
Team USA 2019’s current training camp roster now consist of following players:
Kemba Walker, Kyle Lowry, Kevin Love, Donovan Mitchell, Andre Drummond, Marcus Smart, Khris Middleton, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Harrison Barnes, Julius Randle, Paul Millsap, PJ Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Thaddeus Young, Brook Lopez, and Myles Turner.
While there still is plenty of talent left for Team USA, their quest of taking home the title has become infinitely more difficult. Other teams such as Serbia, Spain, Slovenia and a couple of dark horse teams such as France, Greece, Canada, Lithuania, Australia and Germany, won’t be as scared of a potential matchup with the favorites anymore.
