Predicting the 2028 USA Olympic basketball roster: Top 12 players - ESPN

The 2026 Winter Olympics have concluded, and the United States, unsurprisingly, did not place atop the medal table. The United States usually excels more at the Summer Olympics; the Americans haven't won the medal count at a Winter Games since 1932, but they have topped the medal table in seven of the past eight Summer Games. (China was the only exception at the 2008 Beijing Games.)

Team USA has consistently medaled in five-on-five men's basketball. The Americans have won five gold medals in a row — but they've had to work for the past couple, including close calls in the medal rounds against Serbia and France.

On top of the growing international competition, this is a time of transition for Team USA. Its top three scorers in the 2024 Paris Games were Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, all of whom seem unlikely to return for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. Curry and James have made it clear they don't plan to play on another Olympic roster. Durant, who will be a month shy of his 40th birthday at that point, recently told ESPN's Vincent Goodwill, «Hell yeah, I want to play. But I gotta stay on top of my game.… Today, yeah I feel like I'll put my name in that hat.»

As the Olympic focus shifts from Milan to Southern California, it's time to take stock of who might make the new-look American roster. We started with a long list of more than 80 candidates, based on previous Olympic and FIBA World Cup rosters and player development over the past couple of years. Let's whittle them down to a projected 12-man Olympic squad.

Jump to the full roster projection

The 2024 Olympic squad was the oldest in Team USA history, with an average age of 30.1 and seven repeat players. Anthony Edwards (22), Tyrese Haliburton (24) and