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Report: Suns' Devin Booker, Celtics' Jrue Holiday Join LeBron, Curry as Team USA Core

Scott Polacek

Expect to see Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday in the backcourt for Team USA during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns guards are part of "the expected core of the team barring injury" alongside headline names in LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum.

There will eventually be a 12-man roster, and Charania and Vardon highlighted Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers as two other playmakers who are "under strong consideration" to join "the seven bona fide heavyweights."

Anything less than a gold medal with that group would be shocking.

After all, the Americans have already taken home four consecutive golds in Olympic competition. The last time they didn't win gold was the 2002 Games in Athens when they captured the bronze.

James, Curry and Durant are some of the best players in the history of the sport, while Embiid and Tatum are two of the faces of the league who can take over games at a moment's notice.

Holiday would give Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who will coach the Americans in Paris, a defensive leader in the backcourt who can take some of the pressure off the other stars on that end of the floor.

He is also quite familiar with what it takes to win the gold, as he was part of the United States team that accomplished the feat in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Holiday averaged 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals in six games during that tournament.

Booker was also a member of that team and averaged 9.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He has also further established himself as one of the best guards in the NBA since those Olympics and would likely be more featured in the 2024 Games.

   

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