The field for the Rio Olympics is up to three, with Australia in. The race for the gold medal remains at one — as it will for the next calendar year. Nobody is going to come within 30 points of Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s SuperTeam next summer, and it will be five long years before we know whether Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Olynyk, Tristan Thompson and coach Jay Triano can build a team good enough to throw a scare into the Americans at
LAS VEGAS — It was a warm, muggy morning in Lafayette, Louisiana on Wednesday as Elfrid Payton was going through his usual daily workout when his cellphone rang. It was his agent, telling him he had been invited to Team USA training camp to help fill out the roster for the end-of-mini-camp exhibition game. A two-hour drive to New Orleans followed, then a restless night, then a 6 a.m. flight to Las Vegas where a room awaited him at the Wynn
LAS VEGAS — The next version of Team USA will be chosen in late June, 2016, and there will be no alternates. A dozen players will be named to the team, a training camp will be held in Las Vegas, and the team will take a domestic tour of the United States before traveling direct to Rio de Janeiro from Houston, Team USA executive director Jerry Colangelo told SheridanHoops.com Wednesday. “We don’t want to have any cuts, we don’t want to have
LAS VEGAS — Kobe Bryant has a chance to be a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, even though he is not attending Team USA’s minicamp this week, USA Basketball Executive Director Jerry Colangelo told SheridanHoops Tuesday. “If he had a great year, it would be a great story for him to try to close out his career by winning a gold medal,” Colangelo said. Bryant and Colangelo actually discussed the possibility in June during an NBA/USAB sponsorship conference in New
LAS VEGAS — Practically every top American basketball player is descending on Las Vegas this week for Team USA’s mini-camp. All of them have their sights set on being a part of the 2016 Rio Olympic team. But how many have a realistic shot at joining the very best of the best on what can only be called the SuperDreamTeam? Put it this way: James Harden is a fringe player. So is Blake Griffin. And Kevin Love. The United States has enough talent
Kobe Bryant tells Yahoo Sports he is undecided about retiring following the upcoming season. “I try to strip it down to the simplest form. Either I like playing some more or I don’t,” Bryant said. “But I think that decision needs to be made after the season. It’s hard to make a decision like that before the season.” Bryant also said he believes the Lakers are a playoff team after drafting D’Angelo Russell, getting Julius Randle back from an injury and adding
The problem with giving midsummer report cards is that they’re like a “progress report” from your kid’s school. “So-and-so is in danger of getting a D in math,” one such report from my youngest son’s school said. He ended up with a B-plus. Being halfway through the summer means a lot of things (halfway toward a supertan, a month closer to a second straight golf-free year), but it does not mean you can give an entirely accurate reading of a team’s offseason.
So the month of August begins with another head-scratcher award for Sam Hinkie. The mad scientist in Philadelphia had earned plenty of props on this site for his acquisition of three rotation players — Jason Thompson, Nik Stauskas and Carl Landry — along with a first-round pick and the right to swap two additional two first-round picks with Sacramento in the early-July deal that allowed the Kings to clear the cap space to sign Rajon Rondo, Marco Belinelli and Kosta Koufos. The