The American team for the 2008 Summer Olympic games was announced Monday and Chris Paul was named to it. Along with him are Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks), Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets), Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz), Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors), Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic), Lebron James (Cleveland Cavaliers), Tayshan Prince (Detroit Pistons), Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks), Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat), and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz). The head coach will be Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University and the assistant coaches are Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, New York Knicks head mentor Mike D’Antoni, and Nate McMillan, head coach of the Portland Trailblazers.
Thirty-three players had originally committed to the USA Senior National team program and had been involved in various training exercises and competitions. Only 12 were selected to make the trip to Beijing.
Jason Kidd, at 35 years old will be the veteran leader of team USA. Kidd was on team USA in 2000 and helped them go 8-0 to capture the gold metal in Sydney, Australia. He’s played on the team 8 times and has a perfect 44-0 record in senior level competitions with the team.
In 2004, Team USA finished with a disappointing 5-3 bronze metal effort in Athens, Greece.
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