USA Basketball just announced its 41-player pool for the Paris Olympics. As expected, the biggest powerhouse in basketball features nothing but the creme of the crop and a plethora of proven NBA talent.
As reported earlier, veterans like Stephen Curry and LeBron James headline the list of future Hall of Famers looking to bring home the gold. Nonetheless, there was a major omission from this list.
Draymond Green played in the past two Olympic games, having an instrumental role in back-to-back gold medals. This time, however, USA Basketball decided not to include the Golden State Warriors star.
Grant Hill Explains Why USA Basketball Snubbed Draymond Green From Their Olympic Pool
NBA legend and USA Basketball executive director Grant Hill addressed the media to discuss this matter, claiming that they chose not to include Geen in the wake of his recent suspensions:
Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green
“His contributions have been significant, and he is a real part of the legacy of this organization for his excellence,” Hill told the media. “But I think just in lieu of sort of what’s transpired this year, we made a decision to not have [Green] on this list with this particular point in time with the process.”
Hill states that decision-makers at USA Basketball believe playing summer hoops could interfere with Draymond’s hard work as he looks to navigate whatever’s going on with him off the court:
“We all understand and certainly have great respect and sensitivity to this particular period in his career and he’s working through some things both on and off the court,” Hill said. “We at USA Basketball, we want to support him on his journey. We just didn’t feel that playing over the summer gives him the best opportunity to do what he needs to do.”
Green is one of the most intelligent players in the league and this may have been a huge blow for him. Hopefully, he’ll continue to get the help he needs to get back to his best.
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