Two of the biggest names in the NBA have reportedly committed to playing for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Portland Trailblazers point guard Damian Lillard and Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green are both expected to represent the United States when the Olympic men's basketball tournament begins on July 25 in Japan.
Green helped Team USA win its third consecutive gold at the Rio Games in 2016. Lillard, meanwhile, will be making his Olympic debut this summer.
Lillard, who will turn 31 just before the start of the Olympics, is a six-time NBA All-Star, a member of the 2018 All-NBA First Team and former NBA Rookie of the Year. The Oakland native finished the 2020-21 season averaging 28.8 points per game (third in the NBA behind only Steph Curry and Bradley Beal) and owned a .451 field goal percentage and a career-high .928 free throw percentage.
Green, 31, is a three-time NBA champion, three-time NBA All-Star and a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year. On Monday, Green was named NBA All-Defensive First Team for the fourth time in his career. Not known for lighting up the scoreboard (he only averaged seven points per game during the 2020-21 season), Green is expected to play a key defensive role for Team USA once the games begin in Tokyo.
It's unknown which other players will be joining Lillard and Green for the Olympics, but Joe Vardon of The Athletic expects Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum to be making the trip for the tournament.
"I'm looking squarely at Jayson Tatum," Vardon wrote. "His Celtics were knocked out early and he was on the 2019 team that performed so miserably in China. Which is why he'll want redemption. Tatum suffered a sprained ankle in that tournament, which he and the Americans believe was the difference between their seventh-place finish at the World Cup, and a championship."