Gay appeared in all nine games in USA’s triumph in 2010 World Championship…
Team USA have added Sacramento Kings star Rudy Gay to their roster after a string of withdrawals left them short of options.
USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Kryzewski were forced to convene and discuss their options this week after Kevin Durant left training camp citing fatigue.
In addition, Coach K has already lost Paul George to injury, while the likes of Blake Griffin and Kevin Love have also left camp due to factors outside of the national’s team control.
As a result, Gay has been added to the roster as training continues in Chicago next week, and having helped Team USA to a gold medal four years ago, they will hope to receive the same contribution from the forward this summer if he makes the cut.
“We both felt he would be a valuable addition because of his outstanding skills and the fact that he is so familiar with USA Basketball and our national team program,” Colangelo said Friday in a statement.
“Rudy has been an integral member of USA Basketball since 2005 and was a tremendous contributor to our 2010 world championship team. He has a lot of equity in the USA Basketball national team.”
Gay averaged 7.0 points off the bench after playing in all nine games for the USA in the 2010 World Championship, and it is hoped that he will now make a significant impact with both his ability and experience at this level.
His arrival takes the roster back up to 16 players with only 12 set to travel to Spain later this month, but he does give Coach K versatility as he can play both forward spots which would have been filled by Durant and George respectively.
Having averaged 20.0 points for the Toronto Raptors and Kings last season, the 27-year-old will hope to take his form into international competition and help bring home another championship medal with the tournament starting on August 30.
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