It hasn’t been a great few days for USA Basketball. The list of players attending mini-camp in Las Vegas this week continues to dwindle, and even as the organization scrambles to add last-minute replacements, others seem to be falling off at the very same time.
Paul Millsap was invited to attend mini-camp after Team USA lost big men Blake Griffin (indifference) and Kevin Love (impending trade).
In the same release announcing Millsap’s inclusion, we were informed that Bulls wing Jimmy Butler won’t be attending due to a groin injury.
“Atlanta Hawks all-star forward Paul Millsap has been added to the 2014-16 USA Men’s National Team roster and will participate in the July 28-Aug. 1 training camp in Las Vegas, USA Basketball National Team Managing Director Jerry Colangelo today announced. The U.S. team is scheduled to begin its 2014 preparations for the FIBA Basketball World Cup on July 28 in Las Vegas. USA Basketball will utilize the Las Vegas training camp to identify players for this summer’s USA World Cup Team. Additionally, USA Basketball announced that because of slightly strained groin injury, USA Select Team member Jimmy Butler will be unable to participate in the Las Vegas training camp.”
Again, none of these additions or subtractions are likely to matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. But it’s interesting how different NBA players view the importance of participating in USA Basketball to such varying degrees.
