Who's in - USA Men
GENEVA (London 2012) - The USA qualified for the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament at the 2012 London Games by virtue of winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey. Kevin Durant led the way as the USA went undefeated (9-0) and beat the host nation 81-64 in the final to take the gold medal at the FIBA World Championship for the first ...
GENEVA (London 2012) - The USA qualified for the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament at the 2012 London Games by virtue of winning the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
Kevin Durant led the way as the USA went undefeated (9-0) and beat the host nation 81-64 in the final to take the gold medal at the FIBA World Championship for the first time since 1994.
The feat was all the more special when taking into account the fact that USA head coach Mike Kryzewski had to call on a completely different cast than the one he had had at his disposal in the gold medal run at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
With Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and the rest of the 2008 USA National Team all missing out last summer, a group consisting of rising stars (Durant, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Rudy Gay) and of proven veteran winners (Lamar Odom and Chauncey Billups) took on the challenge of ending the USA's 16-year wait for a FIBA World Championship title and did so in impressive fashion.
Once the 2010 FIBA World Championship came to a close, the majority of the USA players returned to their NBA teams and had stellar seasons in 2010-11.
Most notably, Rose was named the league's MVP, Durant and Westbrook went from being star players to bonafide superstars while Tyson Chandler helped the Dallas Mavericks to their first-ever NBA Championship.
The USA have dominated the Olympic Basketball Tournament, winning the gold medal 13 times out of 16 participations.
FIBA