While it’s likely a bit early to panic about Team USA men’s basketball dropping two straight exhibition games to Nigeria and Australia respectively, there are serious questions facing the team as the Tokyo Olympic Games approach.
The team’s roster construction immediately comes to mind, and the players left off the squad are taking notice.
Head coach Gregg Popovich elected to go with a team that didn’t include three of the NBA’s top young superstars in Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and Trae Young. And when you look at Young’s snub, it’s difficult to ignore ex-Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce’s inclusion on the Team USA coaching staff.
That might explain the two-emoji tweet that the Hawks star posted on Twitter shortly after Team USA’s 91-83 loss to Australia on Monday.
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) July 13, 2021
Underrated emojis right there.
The Hawks fired Pierce in March after starting the season at 14-20 and replaced him with Nate McMillan who led the Hawks to a 27-11 record and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
But even before Pierce’s firing, the Olympic team was a sour subject between the then-head coach and Young. Back in 2020, Pierce didn’t exactly go to bat for Young about Team USA consideration. Instead, he specifically named Harrison Barnes and Mason Plumlee as more deserving Olympians.
"You have to understand when it’s your time, when it's your opportunity."
I asked Hawks coach (and Team USA assistant coach) Lloyd Pierce if it was hard to see Trae Young not named a finalist for the roster: pic.twitter.com/nEkiSbvGQq
— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) February 10, 2020
Again, it’s still early and the Olympics haven’t even started yet. But that kind of organizational mindset isn’t doing any favors for this Team USA squad. No wonder Young tweeted what he did.
