When the final 11-man roster for the Paris 2024 Olympics was released by Team USA, there were few complaints about the star-studded team featuring All-Stars and future Hall of Famers. However, some players felt they were overlooked despite having career years.
Snubbed for Team USA
On Sunday, May 5, 2024, the Cleveland Cavaliers booked their ticket to the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs. It marked their first win in a playoff series in 31 years without LeBron James on the team. One man in particular, Donovan Mitchell, was at the forefront of it all. He scored 50 points in a Game 6 loss, which was more than his entire team combined. In Game 7, he scored 39 points as the Wine and Gold marched on to the next round.
Even though they were handled by eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics, Mitchell had one of his best postseasons in years, averaging 29.6 points per game to add to his 26.6 scoring average in the regular season, making it all the more surprising that his name wasn’t even nominated for the Summer Olympics team.
“I think speaking to that point, Book’s approach should be every hooper’s approach. I respect the hell out of that because that’s the same type of time I’m on. I’m not going to lie; I saw myself not in a lot of roster predictions; I think it’s bull****. But it is what it is at the end of the day,” Mitchell said.
Stacked team
Donovan isn’t saying he should have made the team ahead of anyone already included. Steph Curry and Anthony Edwards occupied the starting and bench positions that he would have naturally slid into. Tyrese Halliburton didn’t see much action, which showed how stacked the team was. However, the Cleveland star felt that with the kind of consistency he has been putting in, he has always been overlooked for Team USA—first in Tokyo and now in Paris.
“If that’s what people feel, I’m just going to do more; that’s kind of been my whole mindset, but I feel like I deserve to be right in that,” Mitchell added.
The selected team ended up getting the job done in Paris, clinching the gold medal without dropping a single game despite some close calls, like against Serbia in the semifinals. At the end of the day, the decision to go with more veterans proved to be decisive.
In four years, the Olympics will take place in Los Angeles, where it’s unlikely stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph will compete. If Spida maintains his consistent performance, he could be a strong contender for a spot on Team USA.
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