Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry
is not playing – not for Team USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics in
London and probably not Tuesday against Cleveland.
USA Basketball revealed the 20 players selected
for the 2012 U.S. Olympic men’s team pool Monday, and Curry, who
won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2010 World Championships,
didn’t make the cut.
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio
Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry
is not playing – not for Team USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics in
London and probably not Tuesday against Cleveland.
USA Basketball revealed the 20 players selected
for the 2012 U.S. Olympic men’s team pool Monday, and Curry, who
won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2010 World Championships,
didn’t make the cut.
“Very disappointed,” said Curry, who was
informed via a letter Saturday. “I had a great experience with it
two years ago, playing with those guys and Coach K (Duke’s Mike
Krzyzewski) and the whole experience. I had my hopes up that I was
going to be able to repeat that – at least make it to the trial
stage – so I’m really disappointed. But it’s motivation for
2016.”
Monday was Curry’s first full practice since
re-spraining his right ankle Jan. 4 at San Antonio. He got in some
five-on-five action at the Cavaliers’ practice facility.
Curry said his ankle didn’t respond as well as
he hoped. He said he’d see how the ankle feels Tuesday before
deciding. But coach Mark Jackson already seemed prepared for the
worst.
“I probably would say he won’t play,” Jackson
said.
Curry said he felt fatigued and didn’t have the
usual strength in his legs. But he said he isn’t sure if it’s
because of his ankle or because his conditioning is behind.
He’s missed the past six games after spraining
his ankle for the third time in 16 days. He had 11 days of minimal
activity before returning to practice Monday.
“It was nice to be able to play a little bit and
be involved with practice,” Curry said. “It’s not 100 percent, like
I want it to be, where I’m out there just free-flowing.”
So why even consider playing Tuesday?
“I’m tired of missing games,” he said. “I said I
was going to wait, but I didn’t say how long I was going to
wait.””
Curry seemed much more dejected about the Team
USA rejection than his ankle. He and Indiana forward Danny Granger
are the only players from the 12-man roster at the 2010 World
Championships not named to the 2012 team.
Several star guards who didn’t play in the World
Championships figure to be all but guaranteed spots on the Olympic
squad: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Deron Williams.
Ditto for Derrick Rose, who also was on the gold medal squad in
2010.
Chauncey Billups, Russell Westbrook and Eric
Gordon were also named to the 20-man roster, which will be pared to
12 for London. That left no room for Curry.
“I do feel we are extremely, extremely strong at
the point position, as evidenced by some people who are not even in
the roster of 20,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said in
a teleconference.
The others selected were LeBron James, Kevin
Durant, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Bosh, Carmelo
Anthony, Dwight Howard, Tyson Chandler, Rudy Gay, Kevin Love, Lamar
Odom and Andre Iguodala.
In the World Championships in Turkey, Curry
appeared in eight of nine games, averaging 4.6 points on 45.2
percent shooting, including 7 of 19 from 3-point range.
Being left off the team may not be the worst
thing for Curry. Following a regular season with a rigorous
offseason because of the Olympics may not be the best thing for
Curry’s troublesome ankle.
“I’m a guy that thinks it’s great to be around
the best, to practice against the best, to see their approach. It
makes you better,” Jackson said. “Talking about (Curry)
specifically, obviously you want to have his minutes be in a Golden
State Warriors uniform.”
