On Monday, USA Basketball announced the 30 finalists who will vie for 12 roster spots for the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The list of 30 is a who's who of current NBA players, headlined by the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Paul George, who will participate in tryouts in Las Vegas this summer before the team is finalized and sent to Brazil in hopes of winning their third-consecutive Olympic gold medal.
But despite having recent USA Basketball experience, neither Damian Lillard nor Mason Plumlee, both starters for the 2015-16 Trail Blazers, were among the 30 players under consideration for a the Olympic Games in Rio, albeit for different reasons.
For Lillard, it wasn't so much a case of being passed over by USA Basketball as it was Lillard declining to be considered. Lillard went through the mini-camp and numerous tryouts with Team USA in the run up to the 2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball (previously known as the FIBA World Championship) in Spain. After being one of the final players cut for the World Championship team, Lillard decided that his offseason was better spent pursuing other goals than making the Men's National Team.
"The summer before I didn’t make the team and I didn’t want it to be like ‘Oh I’m salty because they cut me’ or whatever," said Lillard. "It happens. I just think I spent a lot of time that summer with Team USA but the entire time I was there I didn’t feel like there was a real opportunity for me to make the team. I just felt like I was there to be there. Then I didn’t make the team. I was cut, so I don’t understand why people think I’m supposed to go back the next summer and do that again when I’ve got a lot of things I could do."
What's more, Lillard points out that he was cut from the 2014 World Cup of Basketball team even with Team USA mainstays like James, Durant, Kevin Love, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook sitting out for various reasons. But with those players back in the fold for the 2016 Olympics, Lillard's very slim chances of making the roster simply weren't worth the time one has to commit to the tryout process.
"When I watch the Olympics, I’m going to cheer for Team USA, I got guys that I’m cool with that are on Team USA," said Lillard. "There’s no hard feelings toward them, but any time I go into a situation, I want to have a real opportunity. If I’m going to invest myself in something I want to have a real opportunity at it and the last time that I did that I felt like the decision was already made before the decision was made. Whether I played good or bad I didn’t feel like it mattered."
Then there's Plumlee, who was left off the list of finalists after being somewhat of a surprise selection for the 2014 World Cup of Basketball roster thanks to a number of the more highly-regarded power forwards and centers declining to participate. The 6-10 Plumlee, who played for Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, saw little playing time during the competition, averaging just 6.7 minutes per game. Despite being little used at the World Cup of Basketball, Plumlee said he still enjoyed the experience while earning a gold medal in the process and was hoping to get the opportunity to at least try out for the 2016 Olympics. Evidently, that won't be the case.
"I was a little bit (surprised), but I’m not questioning it," said Plumlee of not being named one of the 30 finalists. "It’s a great group of players… Everything is motivation. It’s not like that dream is out the window now. It’s still something to work toward."
Unlike Lillard, Plumlee participated in the the minicamp Team USA held in Las Vegas in July of 2015, which was supposedly mandatory for players who wanted to be considered for the 2016 Olympic team. But the combination of his relationship with Kryzewski, experience at the 2014 World Cup and his performance in the NBA over the last two seasons wasn't enough to warrant even a tryout for the Olympic roster, presumably due to the likes of Love and LaMarcus Aldridge, who both sat out the World Cup tryouts, agreeing to compete for a spot on the 2016 team bound for Rio.
"That’s a privilege and I think it’s something that you earn with your book of work in the regular season," said Plumlee. "That’s something that is still a goal of mine someday, to play for that team, and I’m going to keep pursuing it. I’m not complaining. The 30 guys on there are really good players. If I continue to improve, maybe that will be me someday."