US men’s Olympic basketball team is stacked with LeBron James, Steph Curry
NBA star-studded U.S Olympic roster looks to capture their fifth-straight gold medal at the Paris Games.
LAS VEGAS – With the U.S. men’s basketball team standing behind him, former President Barack Obama delivered a 10-minute speech about the importance of representing the United States.
At USA Basketball’s 50th anniversary party Tuesday night, Obama, whose attendance was a surprise to most in the room, opened his message by telling the audience that there is no bigger basketball fan in the world than him.
He talked about the importance of uniting the country and showing the world what America is capable of at its best.
“I’m pretty confident that they’re going to be bringing back the gold and representing us the way we should be represented around the world,” Obama said.
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Multiple basketball Hall of Famers, Olympians and USA Basketball luminaries were in attendance, including Spencer Haywood, Cheryl Miller, Dawn Staley, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Sheryl Swoopes, Nancy Lieberman, Reggie Miller, Steve Smith, Tim Hardaway, Doug Collins, Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo.
“I just want to come here to obviously help send off the soon-to-be gold-medal winners,” Obama said. “But I want to come by and say thank you to the legends who have represented USA Basketball and America for 50 years now.”
Earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris visited briefly with the U.S. men’s team at practice on the UNLV campus.
Team USA opened its five-game exhibition tune-up for the Paris Olympics on Wednesday against Canada. Obama was in attendance for the contest.
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt