Advertisement

USA Basketball names initial roster

COLORADO SPRINGS, March 5 (UPI) -- USA basketball Sunday announced the 23 players who will compete for a spot on the national team.

The list includes forward Carmelo Anthony (Denver), guards LeBron James (Cleveland), Dwyane Wade (Miami) and Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers). Also included were two collegians, guards J.J. Redick (Duke) and Adam Morrison (Gonzaga), who are battling for the NCAA scoring title and college player of the year honors.

Advertisement

"The first major competition we are selecting a team for is the 2006 FIBA World Championship," said senior national team program managing director Jerry Colangelo. "This is an important competition and we are taking this as seriously as we take the Olympics. We feel we have versatility, shooters, size, quickness, role players and defensive stoppers. In making the player selections we took into consideration the style of play anticipated to be used by the coaching staff."

The final team will be guided by Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Latest Headlines