CBS – Well this is just getting kind of ridiculous now. Already down Dwight Howard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chris Bosh, Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade because of injuries, Team USA was dealt another significant blow. According to Yahoo! Sports, No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis suffered a severe sprained ankle in a Hornets workout and is “almost assuredly” unable to play in the 2012 London Games. USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo spoke to SI.com about the situation. “I heard that Anthony Davis sprained his ankle yesterday but I don’t know how serious it is,” Colangelo said. “It was in a workout. I’m not going to worry about that unless I’m advised at this point.” If Davis is unable to go, Team USA essentially has one true center remaining in the player pool (Tyson Chandler). The U.S. won gold at the 2010 World Championships in Turkey with the same roster situation, choosing to go small while also using the versatile Lamar Odom at center. However, with Spain built with an outstanding interior trio of Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, Team USA could be in trouble if it is lacking size on the inside.

Team USA Olympic basketball might be my favorite sporting event to watch in the world. It’s rare for any sport to get the best players on the court/field/pitch at the same time, it’s quite another altogether to get some of the best to ever do it on the same team. It’s the Dream Team effect. In ’08 it was crazy to see Kobe/Wade/LeBron/Dwight on the floor at the same time.  And while this year The Good Guys might be missing Wade/Dwight/Bosh/Anthony Davis/Rose/Aldridge, when you look at who they still have left on the roster you begin to appreciate just how many elite players America really has.

Here are my predicted starters:

G – Chris Paul
G – Kobe Bryant
F – Kevin Durant
F – LeBron James
C – Tyson Chandler

Here is my backup five:

G – Deron Williams
G – Russell Westbrook
F – Carmelo Anthony
F – Blake Griffin
C – Kevin Love

Really. Like I’m pretty sure the USA B-Team would go undefeated through the Olympics on their own. And people are worried about the Gasol Brothers, Manu Ginobli, and Danilo Gallinari? Fuck outta here with that nonsense.  It’s laughable.  Team USA is going undefeated because Kobe Bryant would rather murder his children with his bare hands than lose a game on the international stage. Because LeBron James can play every position and shut down every country’s best player. Because Kevin Love is going to grab like 40 rebounds and just keep kicking it out for Carmelo Anthony 3-pointers. It’s not even fair. Our team is stacked. Blake Griffin is going to dunk-murder someone.  So everybody just chill out and enjoy watching Iguodala not get to take a shot all summer.

UPDATE:

I was just going to add this Kobe/Rubio exchange from early this year…

…but these highlights from the USA/Spain final reminded me how great a game it was. For everyone who doesn’t follow USA basketball, check it out. Whatup, Doug Collins.