Hill explains Green's Olympic pool omission

USA Basketball says it wants the best for Draymond Green, which is why the federation does not have him in its plans for the Paris Olympics.

Green's omission from the pool of 41 candidates to play for the United States at the Paris Games was explained Wednesday by men's national team managing director Grant Hill, who spoke highly of the Golden State forward's history with the national team and how he helped it win Olympic gold in 2016 and 2021.

But it was Green's recent history — two suspensions for on-court conduct this season — that Hill and USA Basketball couldn't ignore.

"We all understand, and certainly have great respect and sensitivity to, this particular period in his career, and he's working through some things both on and off the court," Hill said. "We at USA Basketball, we want to support him on his journey. We just didn't feel that playing over the summer gives him the best opportunity to do what he needs to do."

Green appeared in 16 of Golden State's first 40 games this season, his absences primarily because of the two suspensions — five games for grabbing Minnesota's Rudy Gobert around the neck during an on-court incident in November, then an indefinite ban after he struck Phoenix's Jusuf Nurkic in the face in December. Green wound up missing 12 games before being reinstated, and four more games while ramping up to return to play.

Green is one of four current NBA players with more than one Olympic gold medal. The others — three-time gold medalist Kevin Durant and two-time gold medalists LeBron James and Chris Paul — are among the 41-player list that was released Tuesday. But, Green was not the only previous gold medalist that didn't make the initial list for this summer; of the 26 active NBA players with gold medals, 13 are in the pool, 13 aren't.

"His contributions have been significant, and he is a real part of the legacy of this organization for his excellence," Hill said. "But in light of what's transpired this year, we made a decision to not include him on this list."

It was the first of many tough decisions awaiting Hill, men's national team director Sean Ford and national team coach Steve Kerr in the coming months, as the list of 41 players has to get pared down to a 12-person Olympic team.

Agencies Via Xinhua