Derrick White replaces Kawhi Leonard on US Olympic men’s basketball team
LAS VEGAS (AP) — USA Basketball intended to bring Kawhi Leonard to the Paris Olympics. After watching him play in a four-day training camp, they and the Los Angeles Clippers realized that the plan needed to change.
Derrick White of the NBA champion Boston Celtics is replacing Leonard on the U.S. team for the Paris, the first shakeup to a roster that was announced in the spring. The decision was made Tuesday, White accepted the invitation Tuesday night and USA Basketball announced the move Wednesday morning.
“He wanted to be here like all these guys want to be here,” USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill said Wednesday night about Leonard. “And we don’t take that lightly at all. It speaks to the program and the opportunity. Personally speaking, I know what it’s like to want to do something and your body is just not right. And I’ve lived that personally. And so, I applaud him for coming here and being willing to sacrifice, give up his summer and represent our country and play for our program. It just ultimately didn’t work out.”
Leonard missed 12 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ final 14 games this past season with right knee inflammation, though he said in recent days that he felt fine and the knee was doing well. But USA Basketball felt differently and, in conjunction with the Clippers, made the decision.
White, who accepted the invitation after talking with Hill on Tuesday night, averaged 15.2 points and 5.2 assists for the Celtics this past season. His selection gives Boston three of the 12 players on the U.S. roster; Celtics teammates Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday also are Paris-bound.
Derrick White
White is expected to be in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in the coming days — plans are still being made — to join the U.S. squad. The team will fly to Abu Dhabi from Las Vegas on Thursday and is scheduled to practice there Saturday ahead of exhibition games against Australia on July 15 and Serbia on July 17. It’s unclear if White will be there in time for Saturday.
“I don’t feel like his role changes much with our team from what he does with the Celtics,” Hill said. “He plays alongside two incredibly great young players, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. And this setting is hard when you come in and you’re the center of your universe and now you have to establish a role and it might be different than what you have to do with your team. To have someone who can come in and play off of guys, be complementary to some others, but then also stand out ... we’re excited.”
Brown, on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, posted this on Wednesday: "(at)nike this what we doing ?” It seemed like an insinuation that Brown, who has been critical of Nike in the past, may have played a role in him not being selected for the Olympic team. Nike is a USA Basketball partner.
“This is about putting together a team,” Hill said.
White — a second-team All-Defensive selection after this past NBA season, meaning he’ll clearly take some of the on-ball defending duties that the Olympic team likely envisioned Leonard having — has some USA Basketball experience, including being part of the 2019 World Cup team that finished seventh in China. He and the Celtics agreed on a four-year extension worth nearly $126 million after the playoff run, one in which he led Boston with 65 made 3-pointers on a team-best 40.4% shooting from beyond the arc.
