Five Lakers Named Finalists for USA Men's Basketball Team

Five Lakers were named finalists for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Men's Basketball team: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, Kyle Kuzma and JaVale Mcgee.

In total, there were 44 finalists. The final 12-player roster will be announced in June.

James, a three-time Olympian, won bronze in 2004 and gold in both 2008 and 2012. He didn't participate in the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro in 2016.

James told reporters in December that there's "a possibility" that he'll play this summer at the Tokyo Games. If he chooses to play, he'll tie Carmelo Anthony's record of four Olympic appearances on the men's national team.

Gregg Popovich is at the helm of Team U.S.A. and James has always expressed admiration for the coach who has taken the Spurs to the playoffs 22-straight seasons.

Howard was a member of the 2008 Olympic Team and Davis played for the 2012 Olympic Team.

Training camp will start in early July, potentially two weeks after the NBA Finals end. The Olympics begin July 24.

There won't be tryouts for the team. A selection committee will pare down the roster by early June.

“The reason we have this big roster is a lot of things happen, a lot of variables,” USA Basketball men’s national team managing director Jerry Colangelo said in a press release. “And what’s to say what’s going to happen from an injury standpoint between now and June. We don’t know. So we have the rest of the season to monitor, to watch. But when we select our 12, they will be 12 who are absolutely in with all fours.”