Brown, Hayward, Smart, Tatum and Walker all finalists for Team USA for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

USA Basketball released the list of the 44-man finalist pool for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the Boston Celtics were well-represented. Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker are all part of the pool that Team USA will choose a 12-man roster from.

Brown, Smart, Tatum and Walker were all part of Team USA this past summer at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. That team finished a disappointing seventh in China with a 6-2 record.

Brown played in all eight games and averaged 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Walker appeared in all but the final game in China and scored 13.4 points, to go along with 5.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Smart played in five games and averaged 6.4 points per game off the USA bench. Tatum was injured early in the competition and appeared in just two games. He averaged 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two games he played.

For Hayward, this is a return to the national team pool, as he was coming back from injury in prior summers. Hayward was a part of Team USA’s gold medal winner at the Under-19 FIBA World Cup.

With a deep pool of talented players, and many superstars being interested in playing because it’s the Olympics vs the lesser World Cup, it’s unlikely the Celtics will again have four players make Team USA. However, being invited is an honor in and of itself. Also, it’s great experience for the five Celtics invited to be able to work against some of the NBA’s best players in the camp leading up to the Olympics.