By The recently-crowned champion will have one more representative at the Olympics playing for Team USA. Derrick White, 30, is joining the U.S.
according to a on Wednesday afternoon. The news follows a Team USA earlier in the day announcing that Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard — originally named to the roster — will not play at the Summer Games as he works his way back from a sustained at the end of the NBA regular season. “Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olympics over the past several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas,” USA basketball said in the statement.
“He felt ready to compete. However, he respects that USA Basketball and the Clippers determined it’s in his best interest to spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming season rather than participating in the Olympic Games in Paris.” The addition of White gives Team USA a trio of Celtics, with White joining teammates Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday.
Fresh off winning a title, it gives the Boston contingent the chance to achieve wins in multiple competitions in only a few months. White’s previous experience with the national team came at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, though it ended in disappointing fashion as the U.S.
lost back-to-back games against France and Serbia, eventually finishing seventh. Tatum and Holiday were both members of the gold medal run by Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The United States are winners of the last four consecutive gold medals in men’s baske.
