Blake Griffin was named Monday among 19 players on this summer’s USA Basketball Men’s National Team for which the 2014 USA World Cup Team will be chosen.
Griffin, who was a member of Team USA’s 12-man roster for the 2012 Olympics before withdrawing due to a knee injury, will join the team in Las Vegas for training camp beginning July 28 before several exhibition games lead up to the FIBA World Cup in Spain.
Griffin, 25, is coming off his best season as professional. He finished third in the NBA in Most Valuable Player voting after helping lead the Clippers to a 57-25 record and scoring a career-high 24.1 points per game with 9.5 boards and 3.9 assists.
“Looking at the roster of players who will be participating in the training camp I’m impressed by the success they had this past season and by what they have achieved in their careers,” said USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski in USA Basketball’s official release. “It’s valuable to have some veteran leadership who has won gold at the highest levels internationally. The list also includes some of the most exciting young players who could definitely contribute to this team. Myself and the entire coaching staff are excited to get things underway and as we’ve done each summer our team will strive to represent the United States with respect and a commitment to excellence that hopefully will make every American proud.”
In addition to Griffin, MVP Kevin Durant and fellow Team USA mainstays Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, who is returning from surgery to repair a torn meniscus that cost him most of last season, Anthony Davis, and James Harden, are listed among the pool of players vying for a spot in September’s World Cup.
Several players, including the Clippers’ Chris Paul, Cleveland’s LeBron James, and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook are not participating in the World Cup, but are expected to be in the mix when the 2016 Brazil Olympics come around.
Team USA, led by Krzyzewski, is 43-1 in FIBA or FIBA Americas competition since 2006.
“The advantage of having a national team program like we’ve developed since Jerry took over in 2005 is the incredible depth of talent we can draw from,” the Hall of Fame coach added. “The commitment we receive from our players continues to amaze me and the fact that all of the players who will be in Las Vegas all have prior USA Basketball experience shows that the USA Basketball pipeline is working. The prior experience these guys have will help us with our continuity and jelling as a team as well.”
For Griffin, that commitment arises from the honor in representing his country. And the experience grows from there. It was something he talked about during his exit interview media session following the Clippers’ Game 6 loss to Durant’s Thunder.
“I’m looking forward to the experience of playing with those guys, you know, top-level talent across the NBA,” Griffin said. “It’s great. I think you can learn from players in that situation and playing under Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski). I look to use that as a learning experience and also be able to grow my game as we go through that whole process.”
2014 USA Basketball Men's National Team Roster
(as of 7/14/2014)