USA Olympic basketball roster: Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard headline 2021 U.S. men's team for Tokyo

Jacob Camenker

USA Olympic basketball roster: Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard headline 2021 U.S. men's team for Tokyo image

The U.S. men's national basketball team is looking to win a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal. The Americans disappointed at the 2018 FIBA World Cup, finishing seventh after seeing their 78-game winning streak end in an exhibition against Australia.

Three years later, Team USA's 12-man squad is looking a lot stronger ahead of the Tokyo Games than it did for the World Cup.

Only two players from the World Cup roster are on the 2021 U.S. men's basketball roster: Jayson Tatum and Khris Middleton. The other 10 players include some of the NBA's finest, most notably Kevin Durant, who starred at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics for Team USA.

Here's a look at the U.S. men's national basketball team's roster ahead of the Summer Games, which will start Friday.

MORE: Watch the 2021 Olympics live with fuboTV (7-day free trial)

USA Olympic men's basketball roster

Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard headline the 12-man roster for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Two players have previous Olympic experience: Durant and Draymond Green.

Name Team
Bam AdebayoMiami Heat
Devin BookerPhoenix Suns
Kevin DurantBrooklyn Nets
Jerami GrantDetroit Pistons
Draymond GreenGolden State Warriors
Jrue HolidayMilwaukee Bucks
Keldon Johnson*San Antonio Spurs
Zach LaVineChicago Bulls
Damian LillardPortland Trail Blazers
JaVale McGee*Denver Nuggets
Khris MiddletonMilwaukee Bucks
Jayson TatumBoston Celtics

* Replacing Bradley Beal (health and safety protocols) and Kevin Love (injury recovery)

Gregg Popovich USA FIBA

Who coaches the U.S. men's basketball team?

Team USA has a star-studded coaching staff that is headed by longtime Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Pacers assistant coach Lloyd Pierce and Villanova coach Jay Wright are his assistants.

Jerry Colangelo is the team's managing director. Colangelo is a four-time NBA Executive of the Year winner and coached the Suns in two different stints, compiling a 59-60 record. 

Name Team
Gregg PopovichSan Antonio Spurs
Steve KerrGolden State Warriors
Lloyd PierceIndiana Pacers
Jay WrightVillanova University

Team USA basketball at the Olympics

The U.S. men have been incredibly successful in basketball; they have taken home gold from each of the last three Olympic Games. The last time they failed to win gold was at the 2004 Athens Games.

Team USA has medaled in men's basketball 18 times. Fifteen of those medals are gold, two are bronze and one is silver. The team didn't participate in the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow as the United States boycotted them because of the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.

YearSiteResult
1936BerlinGold
1948LondonGold
1952OsloGold
1956MelbourneGold
1960RomeGold
1964TokyoGold
1968Mexico CityGold
1972MunichSilver
1976MontrealGold
1980MoscowQualified but DNP
1984Los AngelesGold
1988SeoulBronze
1992BarcelonaGold
1996AtlantaGold
2000SydneyGold
2004AthensBronze
2008BeijingGold
2012LondonGold
2016Rio de JaneiroGold

Team USA basketball 2021 Olympics schedule

Team USA is one of 12 teams to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. It will be playing in Group A. Its group-play opponents will be the Czech Republic, France and Iran.

DateGameTime (ET)TV channel
July 25USA vs. France8 a.m.Peacock
July 28USA vs. Iran12:40 a.m.Peacock
July 31USA vs. Czech Republic8 a.m.Peacock
Aug. 3Men's basketball quarterfinalsTBDTBD
Aug. 5Men's basketball semifinalsTBDTBD
Aug. 6Men's basketball gold-medal game10:30 p.m.NBC, fuboTV
Aug. 7Men's basketball bronze-medal game7 a.m.TBD

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.