Sports
B’Ball: NBA Stars Dominate US Olympic Team
Stephen Curry will make his Olympic debut for the USA after he was named on a 12-man roster for this summer’s Olympics in Paris.
LeBron James, the NBA all-time leading point scorer, will play at the Games for the first time since London 2012.
Kevin Durant is seeking to make history by becoming the first male athlete to win four gold medals in basketball.
Joel Embiid, the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, has also been included.
The USA are aiming to improve on a disappointing fourth place at last year’s Basketball World Cup.
They have won 16 Olympic gold medals in the sport and have been the champions at each Games since 2004.
Steve Kerr, of the Golden State Warriors , will be their head coach, assisted by Mark Few (Gonzaga University), Tyronn Lue (LA Clippers) and Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat).
The full list of the USA team include, Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Anthony Davis (Los Angeles Lakers), Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns), Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana Pacers), Jrue Holiday (Boston Celtics), LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics).
Meanwhile, LeBron James scored 23 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 to reach the NBA play-offs.
James, 39, also chipped in with nine rebounds, nine assists and three steals to help the Lakers seal the seventh seed in the Western Conference.
The Lakers face defending champions the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the play-offs.
“We’ve got a good group going right now,” James said.
“We understood after how we had played the last game that they were going to give us everything they had – the whole kitchen sink and the toolbox – and they did that.
“So it was a gritty win for us and we punched our ticket to the post-season.”
James is set to feature in the play-offs for the 17th time in his 21-season career.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings ended Golden State Warriors’ hopes of appearing in the play-offs with a 118-94 win.
Stephen Curry top-scored for the Warriors with 22 points but Klay Thompson – who has averaged 17.9 points a game this season – failed to score in 32 minutes.
The Warriors have now missed out on the play-offs three times in the past five seasons.
Keegan Murray hit eight three-pointers and ended the match with 32 points and nine rebounds for the Kings, while De’Aaron Fox added 24 points.
The Kings meet the Pelicans on Saturday, with the winner securing the eighth seed and the final play-off spot in the West.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.