Team USA

Official Release

Sacramento Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton was named to the 2021 USA Men’s Select Team, USA Basketball announced today. The Select Team will train July 6-9 with the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team during its training camp in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Haliburton, named to the 2020-21 NBA All-Rookie First Team, accrued averages of 13.0 points (.472 FG%, .409 3pt%, .857 FT%), 3.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.5 blocks and 30.1 minutes per game in 58 games (20 starts) during the 2020-21 regular season. Amongst all rookies, Haliburton finished the regular season ranking third in scoring (13.0), second in assists (5.3), ninth in three-point field goal percentage (.409), second in steals (1.3) and third in minutes (30.1) per game.

During his rookie campaign, Haliburton earned back-to-back Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for games played in February and January/December. In March, Haliburton was named to the 2021 NBA Rising Stars U.S. Team roster.

Through international competition, Haliburton was also a member of the 2019 USA U19 World Cup team that captured the gold medal.

Joining Haliburton on the 2021 USA Basketball Select Team are: Saddiq Bey (Detroit Pistons/Villanova); Miles Bridges (Charlotte Hornets); Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves); Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers); Tyler Herro (Miami Heat); John Jenkins (Bilbao Basket, Italy/Vanderbilt); Keldon Johnson (San Antonio Spurs); Josh Magette (Darüşşafaka Tekfen, Turkey/Alabama-Huntsville); Dakota Mathias (Philadelphia 76ers); Immanuel Quickly (New York Knicks); Naz Reid (Minnesota Timberwolves); Cam Reynolds (Houston Rockets); Isaiah Stewart (Detroit Pistons); Obi Toppin (New York Knicks); P.J. Washington (Charlotte Hornets); and Patrick Williams (Chicago Bulls).

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will serve as head coach of the 2021 USA Select Team. Gonzaga University head coach Mark Few, who served as an assistant coach with the 2019 Select Team and head coach of the 2015 USA Pan American Games Team, as well as Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jamahl Mosley, who served as an assistant coach at the 2018 USA National Team minicamp will serve as assistant coaches.

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Tyrese Haliburton Named To 2021 USA Men’s Select Team

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Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes is among the 44 athletes announced by USA Basketball today as finalists for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team. The player selections were approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors. The official 12-member 2020 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team roster will be announced later this year.

Currently in his eighth NBA season, Barnes is averaging 13.6 points (.446 FG%, .372 3pt%, .795 FT%), 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 0.7 steals per game in 592 appearances with three teams; Golden State (2013-16), Dallas (2016-18), and Sacramento (2018-20). During the 2019-20 season, he is averaging 14.5 points (.450 FG%, .355 3pt%, .798 FT%), 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.6 steals per game in 52 contests (all starts) for the Kings.

As a gold medalist with the U.S. Olympic Men’s National Team in 2016, Barnes appeared in four games and averaged 4.3 points (.426 FG%, .333 3pt%, 4-4 FT) and grabbed 1.3 rebounds per game. During the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, he averaged 11.6 points (.476 FG%, .333 3pt%, 24-27 FT), 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in eight contests with Team USA.

Featuring 29 players who have played for the USA in Olympic and/or FIBA World Cup competitions and who together have collected 31 Olympic or FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medals and four bronze medals, the 44 finalists for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team also include: Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat); LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs); Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards); Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns); Malcolm Brogdon (Indiana Pacers); Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics); Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat); Mike Conley (Utah Jazz); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers); DeMar DeRozan (San Antonio Spurs); Andre Drummond (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets); Paul George (L.A. Clippers); Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors); James Harden (Houston Rockets); Montrezl Harrell (L.A. Clippers); Joe Harris (Brooklyn Nets); Tobias Harris (Philadelphia 76ers); Gordon Hayward (Boston Celtics); Dwight Howard (Los Angeles Lakers); Brandon Ingram (New Orleans Pelicans); Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets); LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers); Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers); Kawhi Leonard (L.A. Clippers); Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers); Brook Lopez (Milwaukee Bucks); Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers); Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors); JaVale McGee (Los Angeles Lakers); Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks); Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz); Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers); Chris Paul (Oklahoma City Thunder); Mason Plumlee (Denver Nuggets); Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics); Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics); Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors); Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers); Kemba Walker (Boston Celtics); Russell Westbrook (Houston Rockets); and Derrick White (San Antonio Spurs).

Barnes is among nine players from the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, including Butler, DeRozan, Durant, George, Green, Irving, Lowry and Thompson, that went 8-0 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and who remain in contention for the 2020 U.S. Olympic squad.

All 12 members of the USA’s 2019 World Cup Team are finalists and include Barnes, Brown, Joe Harris, Lopez, Middleton, Mitchell, Plumlee, Smart, Tatum, Turner, Walker and White.

The USA National Team coaching staff is led by San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, and serving as USA assistant coaches are Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce and Villanova University head coach Jay Wright. 

“This is the first step in USA Basketball identifying the 12 players who will represent the United States as members of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team in Tokyo,” said Jerry Colangelo, who has served as the managing director of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team since 2005. 

“The commitment, desire and excitement of all of our athletes to represent their country is genuine and remarkable. All of the finalists are exceptionally gifted athletes who offer us amazing versatility and depth, and the group of finalists features a range of players from those who are very experienced and accomplished in international basketball to players who will be future international stars. 

“Over the course of the remainder of the NBA season we’ll continue to monitor all of the athletes. Selecting the 12-man USA roster will obviously be an extremely challenging and difficult process, and we will again attempt to select the very best team possible to represent our country and who we hope will be successful in our difficult mission of repeating as Olympic champions for a fourth consecutive Olympics.”

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USA Basketball Announces Harrison Barnes as Finalist for 2020 U.S. Olympic Men’s Team

Kyle Ramos

Team USA has played two very different games so far, but with the same result.

On Sunday, the United States took care of the Czech Republic squad with relative ease, cruising to an 88-67 victory in the opening contest of their FIBA World Cup schedule.

Harrison Barnes, the lone Kings representative on the squad, got the starting nod and racked up 14 points, which was the second-highest mark on the team.

The second matchup for Team USA’s group stage proved to be a tougher test as they went down to the wire against Turkey on Tuesday.

As both teams battled back and forth for the W, the deciding factor was ultimately free-throw line.

In the waning seconds of the game, Boston’s Jayson Tatum hit two clutch free throws with just 0.1 seconds on the clock to force overtime.

Turkey had a chance to put away the United States in the extra time, but missed four consecutive free throws to leave the door open.

Team USA would capitalize with Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton drawing a foul and knocking down a pair of shots from the charity stripe to secure a narrow 93-92 triumph for his country.

HB posted another solid outing in the thrilling victory, pitching in 10 points and six rebounds in his second straight start.

USA Basketball is now looking ahead to its third and final game of the group stage, taking on Japan on Thursday night in Shanghai and looking to stay undefeated.

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Barnes and Team USA Take Two Straight

Jordan Ramirez

“I’ve enjoyed coaching him and watching him," Steve Kerr said this week at USA Basketball Training Camp.

"He’s so talented, he’s so gifted. He’s still such a young player that he’s got a whole other level he can get to.”

Kerr is the epitome of championship experience — having won five championships as a player and three since joining Golden State.

“You see him learning, you see him taking it all in, he’s very very coachable," continued Kerr. "So a guy with that kind of talent, that kind of brain and that kind of character, he’s only going to get better.”

Swipa's coaches aren't the only ones giving praise to the young guard, his peers are sharing their thoughts on his play as well.

“He made a great jump from the first year to the second year,” fellow 2017 draftee Jayson Tatum said. “We all expect him to make a bigger jump going into his third year. I’ve known Fox since we were in the third or fourth grade, and he’s always gotten better every year. He’s going to continue working to get better.”

Kemba Walker, the 29-year old veteran, helped put Swipa's development in perspective.

"It takes time, man,” Walker said. “The league is so hard, it’s tough. Especially transitioning from college to the NBA and he’s a one-and-done kid, it’s tough. I thought he adjusted pretty fast. I thought he had a pretty solid rookie year but the next year he came in and he played great. I thought his leadership picked up."

Fox joins Harrison Barnes as Sacramento's two representative with Team USA, as cuts for the final roster are expected in the coming days.

Team USA battles Spain on Friday in Anaheim, the second exhibition this summer for the squad.

Following their week in Southern California, USA heads to Melbourne, Australia for the next round of training and games.

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Kerr on Fox: 'He's So Talented, He's So Gifted'

“Just being around those guys, training every single day, seeing how they compete and then coming back to my team, I think it allowed me to kind of take that next step," Harrison Barnes told The Athletic.

"I’m hoping this year, being one of the more veteran guys, hopefully pass along some of that advice, be more vocal and obviously carry that on to Sacramento.”

The 27-year-old is considered a veteran not just for USA Basketball, but for Sactown as well.

Barnes joins De'Aaron Fox in L.A. this week as Team USA continues Training Camp before the FIBA Wold Cup.

"It's definitely great to have him here," Swipa said. "To have a teammate, have somebody you have somebody to go through it with. Even here, he's still showing how to work hard."

"Last week, after every practice, we were in the weight room. Always getting that extra work in...it's definitely great for me to go through this process with him."

The Sacramento duo joins 13 others in LA this week as USA Basketball looks to finalize its roster before the tournament tips off on Aug 31.

"I think now coming here, hopefully being able to pass along some of the things I’ve seen, some of the things I’ve experienced to guys," Barnes continued.

"Whether it’s [De’Aaron] Fox or Donovan [Mitchell], or Jayson [Tatum] or Kyle [Kuzma], guys who are going to be playing a lot of minutes, ‘These are things I’ve seen, things I’ve learned, take from it what you want and see if it applies to you.’”

Team USA will hold another exhibition on Friday against the Spanish National Team in Anaheim. The final round of cuts are expected to take place following the game.

"Just being able to be here, I think I've gotten better as a player, as a leader. An understanding of the game entirely. If I'm able to be on this team and travel, it's a big success."

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Kings Shift to LA as Team USA Training Camp Continues

Alex Kramers

With the way the Kings excel at pushing the tempo, it’s only fitting that two of Sacramento’s franchise cornerstones sped up the timeline, zooming, in the blink of an eye, from the Team USA practice squad to the senior roster.

De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III originally arrived in Las Vegas as members of the Select Team, a pool of talented, future USA Basketball candidates chosen as sparring partners for the more-established stars on a main group that features Kings teammate Harrison Barnes.

But Sacramento’s 6-foot-3 point guard — and his “ridiculous” burst— earned a promotion to the National Team side at the start of training camp. Soon after, Bagley began to separate himself from other U.S frontcourt hopefuls with his polished interior scoring and sky-scraping alley-oop dunks. By the end of Friday’s intra-squad scrimmage, both players, along with Barnes, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, were selected as finalists to represent their country in the FIBA World Cup.

While Bagley – after using the week-long Vegas showcase to build his game and profile, and rub shoulders with some of the League’s top players – elected to withdraw from team activities in order to focus on his upcoming sophomore NBA season, Nos. 5 and 40 will join the other 13 contenders for practice stints in Los Angeles.

In the coming weeks, they’ll learn if they’ve been tapped on the shoulder to don red, white and blue in the China-hosted tournament, and while numerous outlets already consider Fox a roster lock, he’s not taking the unexpected opportunity lightly.

“It’s an honor for me to be here,” he said, “and an honor to be able to compete for one of these spots.”

The 21-year-old has been one of the young invitees shining brightest in lineups stocked with upside players, living up to his nickname by swiping opposing wings, and running circles around defenses with his quickness and arsenal of dribbling moves that left onlookers in awe.

In the Blue-White scrimmage, Fox showed his difference-making talent from the moment he checked in, finishing with 12 points, three assists, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 15 minutes on the floor.

“He has incredible speed, and I’m thinking and hoping that people have a hard time staying in front of him,” said Spurs and Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich. “He has a high intelligence level, he shoots it well enough and he wanted to be here. All those things came together in us inviting him.”

In 2016, Fox made a similarly positive impression as a member of the USA Junior National Select Team, tallying nine points and a game-high five assists in 15 minutes in a lopsided victory in the Hoop Summit. Among the fellow high-schoolers who joined him were current Kings teammates Wayne Gabriel and Harry Giles, a three-time gold-medalist who was named an honorary captain.

Although many veteran players have removed their names from consideration this summer, Barnes never vacillated from his commitment to Team USA, calling the prospect of playing for the National Team a “simple” decision and a privilege he wouldn’t decline.

The 27-year-old, a part of the U.S. program for nearly a decade, is one of the seasoned leaders amid a group of mostly newcomers. He debuted with the 2010 Junior National Select Team and graduated to the senior Select Team in 2014, before embarking to Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The reserve forward appeared in four international games, averaging 4.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per outing.

All three Kings standouts in attendance emerged as key players for Team USA, likely well beyond the upcoming FIBA World Cup, and after Fox and Barnes moved another step closer toward representing their country, the duo is poised to join a rich history of Sacramento stars partaking in international competition.

Mitch Richmond
“The Rock,” widely recognized as one of the preeminent shooting guards of his era, added an Olympic gold medal to a basketball mantle decorated with All-Star MVP and Rookie of the Year awards, a Hall of Fame trophy and a championship ring.

In 1996, competitors from across the globe discovered precisely what Michael Jordan meant when he named Richmond – a long-range sharpshooter with an equally-refined post-up game – his toughest opponent.

The Kings legend played in all eight games, starting three, in Atlanta, Ga., and finished fifth on the team in scoring (9.6 points per game); second in made threes (11) and free throw percentage (84.2 percent); fourth in three-point accuracy (42.3 percent); and fifth in steals (10). He scored in double-digits three times, including a team-high 16 points, to go along with five rebounds and three assists, in the preliminary round finale against 1992 silver-medalist Croatia.

Richmond previously suited up in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, with the last U.S. basketball team not to feature NBA players, and came home with bronze after averaging 8.9 points and a team-leading 2.1 assists per contest.

Too dominant, too physical and too skilled for international opposition, Cousins distinguished himself as Team’s USA best big man in the 2016 Rio Olympics, putting up 9.1 points on 61.4-percent shooting and 5.8 rebounds in only 14.8 minutes per outing. In the gold-medal game against Serbia, the big man turned in his most productive game of the tournament, racking up 13 points and 15 rebounds in 17 minutes to ensure he’d return to Sacramento as a world champion.

Two year earlier, Cousins, who wasn’t considered a shoo-in to make the 12-man roster for the 2014 FIBA World Cup, cemented his place on the team with a strong, team-oriented performance in exhibition play. Once the preliminary games tipped off, he continued to bowl over the competition with his powerful back-to-the-basket game, recording the second-highest field-goal percentage (70.2) in U.S. World Cup history. As the first big off the bench, Cousins contributed 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 13.8 minutes, playing a major role in the team’s 9-0 record.

No stranger to the international basketball circuit, Cousins participated in the 2007 Youth Development Festival, was a member of the 2009 USA Junior National Select Team and earned his place on the 2012 USA Basketball Select Team.

Rudy Gay
Gay, a gold-medalist on 2010 U.S. squad that won the FIBA World Championship, rejoined the roster in 2014, in the wake of Kevin Durant’s withdrawal from the team prior to the start of the tournament. Less than a week later, the late addition was the first player off the bench in the exhibition opener and soon joined Cousins as part of the final contingent.

The versatile wing embraced his role as a floor-spacer, secondary playmaker and defender, chipping in with an efficient 6.0 points on 47.8 from the field (41.7 percent from deep), 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 13.9 minutes per contest, including 11 points in the gold-medal showdown against Serbia.

Gay, a finalist for the 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams, was also a first-place finisher with the USA U21 World Championship Team in the 2005 Global Games, where he played alongside future Kings teammate Rajon Rondo. In the FIBA U21 Worlds, Gay averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and set a USA U21 tournament record with 12 blocked shots.

Mike Bibby
The all-time Sacramento-era assists leader helped guide the 2003 Men’s National Team to an unblemished 10-0 record, a gold medal and a qualifying berth for the next year’s Olympics at the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico.

Arguably the USA MVP, Bibby finished with incredible 60.4/57.1/81.3 shooting splits, and, despite coming off the bench throughout the length of the competition, recorded a team-high 15 steals and 48 assists – two behind starter Jason Kidd. Consistent from start to finish, No. 10 notched 11 points and seven assists in both the tournament opener against Brazil and the gold-medal-clinching victory over Argentina.

Bibby’s prior USA Basketball experience includes an invitation to the 1996 USA Basketball Junior National Select Team, comprised of the nation’s best high-school seniors. In the second-annual Hoop Summit, he scored seven points and handed out two assists against a squad of top international players.

Brad Miller
Along with his already renowned passing skills out of the high post, the then-Kings center impressed Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski with his deadeye outside shooting, drilling 6-of-7 from behind the arc in five exhibition games prior to the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Miller was named to the final 12-man roster that was trimmed down from nearly 40 candidates, and although he didn’t log as many minutes once tournament play commenced, the two-time All-Star’s ability to knock down 15-footers and toss textbook backdoor passes was once again a perfect complement to a team packed with isolation scorers. The big man logged 5.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in four appearances – including five points, eight boards and three assists in a win over Senegal – and captured his second career bronze medal.

His first came in the 1998 World Basketball Championship, when Miller, an undrafted free agent fresh off a productive senior season at Purdue, anchored a U.S. team that was prohibited from sending NBA players overseas due to the impending lockout.

(Were it not for the work stoppage, Kings legend Chris Webber was in line to represent Team USA in Athens, Greece, and even participated in a photoshoot in the leadup to the event.)

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Kings Stars Stand Out with Team USA

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Mic'd Up | De'Aaron Fox at Team USA Practice

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"We're up and coming," said De'Aaron Fox of the Sacramento contingent that earned their way to Las Vegas.

"A lot of teams have gotten better, especially in the West. We're here. We're trying to get better. We're growing."

Whether it was throughout last season or Day 1 of Team USA Training Camp, the Kings are trying to grow in any way they can.

Fox joins Harrison Barnes as invitees to Team USA's National Roster, while second-year big man Marvin Bagley III joins them on the Select Team.

"It was great," Swipa said of his first day. "Of course, I had some questions about the camp and everything that goes on with USA Basketball, not having done something like this since I was in high school...It’s an honor for me to be here and an honor to be able to compete for one of these spots."

On Monday, Fox practiced with the National Team after previously being named to the Select Team, an incredible honor for the 21-year-old.

"Being on the select team, that’s what I was expecting," Fox explained. "Come in here and work for a week. Play against the guys who are competing for a spot on the team and just finishing the rest of my summer.

"My agent’s getting married September 1, and I was planning on going to that. But he was like, ‘Go do that. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.’ It could change the rest of my summer."

Fox joins a National Team highlighted by teammate Harrison Barnes, Kemba Walker, Donovan Mitchell, Jason Tatum, Kyle Kuzma and many more.

"When players can come for the select group and move up, that’s encouraging for them that they have a legitimate chance," said National Team Managing Director Jerry Colangelo.

Team USA practice continues throughout the week, with the first intra-squad game airing live on NBA TV on Friday at 7 p.m. PDT.