Grant Hill Breaks Silence on Kawhi Leonard’s Exit From Team USA Ahead of Canada Clash

The managing director of the USA Men’s National basketball team, Grant Hill, has put together a roster of winners like LeBron James and sharpshooters like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Jayson Tatum. “Our only goal is to win a Gold Medal for Team USA,” Bron said, making it clear. However, one of the key pieces, Kawhi Leonard, has withdrawn from the ambitious pack. About two hours ago, USA Basketball dropped the saddening update. Derrick White from Boston is taking up his place. But what happened to the Klaw?

Grant Hill also reacted to Kawhi’s situation, as he stated, “I want to thank Kawhi for his commitment to the US Men’s National Team. He earned the opportunity to represent the United States, but USA Basketball and Clippers leadership felt it’s important to allow Kawhi to prepare for the NBA season,” via Tim Bontemps. Kawhi got out just before the US’ first exhibition match against Canada.

Although it is expected that these sudden developments won’t affect the future of the national group as it still holds its veteran core of LeBron, Steph, and KD, among others. Nevertheless, as per reports from Marc J. Spears, the issue began two days prior.

“Two days ago, Kawhi’s camp reached out to USA Basketball expressing concern, a source said,” Spears reported. Though it was not clear what was the cause of concern, it might have been most definitely related to the injury-woes of Kawhi. Even in his team’s last 4 playoff games, Kawhi couldn’t contribute due to his knee injury, and that was a major turning point in the Clippers’ successful season. It seems that the physical disadvantages have held the 33-year-old Leonard back to perform consistently at the highest level.

Will Kawhi Leonard’s absence from the national roster have drastic effects?

The 6x NBA All-Star Kawhi was definitely an asset to the USA Basketball team in the Olympics. In the last NBA season itself, he averaged 23.7 points alongside a little over 6 rebounds, and just under 3 assists every game. With stats like 1.6 steals, 0.9 blocks, and an accuracy of beyond 40% from deep, he is one of the top players in 2023-24.  Although his knee issues were a concern, he managed to play 68 regular season games, the most since his Spurs days but broke down at the business end of the season.

Considering all these factors, Ty Lue, the USA team’s assistant coach and also the Clippers’ head coach, might have had a look at Kawhi’s condition during scrimmages. “Kawhi has been ramping up for the Olympics over the past several weeks and had a few strong practices in Las Vegas,” was once the team’s statement that brought a smile to faces. However, it just wasn’t meant to be.

That’s why the 30-year-old player White replaced the 2x NBA Champion. Derrick is an NBA champion himself with his recent title win with the Celtics. He averaged 15.2 points and a little over 5 and 4 assists and boards respectively. He’s also made it to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in the last two years.So even after Kawhi Leonard’s exit, the USA team is still hard as rock on the rim protection. That’s why they’re expected to get back with their 5th consecutive Olympic gold medal in the men’s category. Which team would you think will pose a threat to the USA team’s ambitions at the Paris Olympics? Let us know in the comments.

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