As the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup nears, young Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green is among several American stars joining Team USA for an August training camp in Las Vegas.
Green is joining Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons, and Keegan Murray of the Sacramento Kings on the U.S. Select Team, per Joe Vardon and Shams Charania of The Athletic. That team will be coached by Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley, The Athletic reports.
Vardon and Charania have more:
Team USA’s FIBA World Cup national team, with players like Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr., Brandon Ingram and Jalen Brunson, begins training camp for the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Aug. 3 on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Holmgren, Williams, Cunningham, Murray and Green will be part of the U.S. Select Team, and as a part of that, they will not only practice against the American 12 picked to represent the United States at the World Cup but are eligible to travel with the team to the Philippines and serve as replacements if anyone is injured before the start of the Cup.
Team USA has not formally announced its Select Team, which will include as many as 12 players.
Now 21 years old, Green led the Rockets by scoring 22.1 points (41.6% FG, 33.8% on 3-pointers) in 34.8 minutes per game last season.
As the No. 2 overall pick from the first round of the 2021 NBA draft, the athletic 6-foot-6 guard is viewed by many as a star in the making, and a potential opportunity to represent the United States on the international stage can only help in that transition.
Green is the second current member of the Rockets to participate in World Cup preparation activity, joining Canada’s Dillon Brooks. At a bare minimum, it would seem to ensure (assuming health) that both players are in optimal physical condition once the NBA opens training camps for the 2023-24 season in early October.
Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, Houston’s Jalen Green and Sacramento's Keegan Murray are among group of rising American stars who will join Team USA for FIBA World Cup training camp next month, per sources.https://t.co/4TAN0GErUp
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 20, 2023