The opening weekend of the NBA playoffs was a bad one for Team USA, with two starters either clearly limited or unable to play at all due to injury.
Days after the American 12 that will play in the 2024 Paris Olympics was unveiled to great fanfare, 7-footer Joel Embiid landed hard on his surgically repaired left leg in the Philadelphia 76ers–New York Knicks game Saturday night, crumpled to the court and limped to the locker room. Embiid returned for the second half and finished with 29 points, but in his last three appearances, he has either appeared to tweak his left knee or otherwise labored up and down the court.
On Sunday, the LA Clippers ruled out Kawhi Leonard for Game 1 against the Dallas Mavericks due to the inflammation in his right knee that has kept him out since April 2. The Clippers insist he is day to day, and the team has some hope he will play in this first-round series.
Bigger picture, with both Embiid and Leonard, USA Basketball knew there were risks. The Americans knew Embiid underwent surgery in February to repair a torn meniscus, and they were obviously aware of Leonard’s knee problems, as he hesitated before accepting the invitation to join the Olympic team due to concern over his knee. In a vacuum, the bad news for either player was not a surprise.
But it was indicative of the precarious nature of the star-studded USA roster. Already, those NBC commercials starring Common, in which he highlights the MVP, champion-laden roster, are in trouble of not holding up by the time the Olympics start in late July.
“We have shown in years past … we’ve had to make changes, and we do have time in the event that something unforeseen were to happen,” USA managing director Grant Hill said last week. “We have a contingency plan, and we have that at every position. We’ll keep that internal. We hope that doesn’t happen, but, you think back to 2021, that was the case. And, I think going through this process, you have to learn to expect at times the unexpected, be able to adapt and adjust.”
Announcing the Olympic team this early, before the playoffs began, is a huge break from tradition. Hill said USA Basketball did so simply because “we knew.” The team is so strong, with so many All-Stars, that the organization wanted to move forward and begin the process of team building with things like video calls between players and coaches.
There is no new structural damage to Leonard’s knee, league sources said, but the inflammation from the multiple surgeries he’s endured has hampered him for weeks. He played in just two playoff games last season due to a torn meniscus and missed the entire 2021-22 season after tearing his ACL during the 2021 playoffs. While there is hope Leonard eventually plays against the Mavericks, there is a chance he doesn’t. After four consecutive postseasons in which he either couldn’t play or suffered an injury that knocked him out, it’s fair to wonder how much risk Leonard would be willing to take for Team USA.
Then again, all of these issues were already known when Hill extended Leonard the offer he accepted last week.
Embiid has a history of playing through injuries in the playoffs that ultimately seem to make him a little less than the MVP-dominant force he is when healthy. He is a 7-footer who can stretch the floor, defend the rim and rebound, all vitally important characteristics in the international game.
Joel Embiid lies on the court in second quarter Saturday against the Knicks. He exited the game but returned for the second half. (Wendell Cruz / USA Today)
Leonard, meanwhile, is a two-way star and particularly stifling defender. He could play the two guard in USA coach Steve Kerr’s lineup, next to Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Embiid and either LeBron James or Anthony Davis. That combination of two-way play, 3-point shooting, midrange mastery and rim and 3-point-line protection is staggering, maybe better than any international team ever. Embiid and Leonard are such key pieces to the equation that each is worth the injury risk.
As for Hill’s contingency plans, The Athletic reported while Leonard was weighing Hill’s offer that Paolo Banchero, Paul George, Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson were possibilities. But in the event USA Basketball has to make a change, depending on when it is, replacements could come from much broader pools.
At 6-foot-10, Banchero, who played his first career playoff game Saturday for the Orlando Magic against the Cleveland Cavaliers and scored 24 points, is undersized compared to Embiid but is nevertheless built for the international game. He is well respected inside the USA program and fared well at the FIBA World Cup last summer. George and Bridges could both play a role similar to Leonard. Brunson has been one of the best players in the NBA this season and appeared on some MVP ballots, but is a point guard and the roster is already guard-heavy with Curry, Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton and Anthony Edwards.
In January, USA Basketball released a list with 41 NBA players who agreed to play in the Olympics if asked. That group included post players like Chet Holmgren, Jarrett Allen, and Bobby Portis, as well as wing defenders like Desmond Bane and Derrick White.
GO DEEPER
Making Stephen Curry ‘giddy’ is only part of Grant Hill’s to-do list for USA Basketball
The last U.S. Olympic team did have to make changes to its original roster. During training camp. Kevin Love withdrew from the team, and Bradley Beal was forced to leave camp after contracting COVID-19 ahead of the Tokyo Games in 2021.
The replacement for Love turned out to be JaVale McGee, a veteran and role player who didn’t mind playing a small role for Team USA. Beal’s replacement turned out to be Keldon Johnson, who was chosen off the Select Team — the collection of young players invited to Las Vegas to practice against the Olympic team.
USA Basketball has not named its Select Team for this summer, but depending on when the Americans would have to make a roster change (if they do at all), the Select Team might be a more likely option than going back to an NBA star in the U.S. who was passed over the first time.
There is also plenty of time between now and the July 5 start to training camp. Embiid and Leonard could be feeling much better by then. Or, something unfortunate could befall one of the other nine Team USA members active in the playoffs.
One thing to keep in mind: Once the Olympic tournament starts, no roster changes are allowed. The 12 players who break camp with the U.S. and complete exhibition games in Abu Dhabi and London have to be healthy for the first Olympic game July 28 against Serbia. Once the ball goes up, no one can be added to replace an injured player.
“We hope that’s not the case,” Hill said. “From all indications, from talking to all the guys … first of all, I’ve been a player. I know you get to this point of the season and everything is sore and a little bit swollen … this is part of the grind of an NBA season.
“But, we’ll continue to evaluate,” Hill continued. “We’ll continue to be in communication with guys as they go through the playoffs and into the offseason. And, like I said, our hope is that this roster will, on July 12, get on the plane and head abroad.”
(Top photo of Kawhi Leonard: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
