Robb: Isaiah Thomas Wants A Chance To Play For Team USA Basketball
BOSTON (CBS) -- The USA Olympic basketball team is easily the world's top group of basketball players and one Celtic is looking for an opportunity to join that elite unit.
Point guard Isaiah Thomas published a tweet Friday evening expressing his hopes of earning a spot with the team as it prepares for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Thomas was elected to his first All-Star game during the 2015-16 season, but a extremely deep pool at the guard position kept Thomas out from earning a invitation as one of the 30 finalists to the team's national team this summer.
That fact may change though in the coming weeks as several star players have already elected to withdraw from competing for the team this summer. Stephen Curry, James Harden, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis will all miss the games later this summer due to injury and/or rest.
There are still several top guards remaining on the team's potential roster including Damian Lillard and Mike Conley, but Thomas has a strong case to be given consideration among those names. Conley specifically has been sidelined with a foot injury for the past couple months and Thomas had better overall numbers than him over the past season.
There's a chance additional candidates (LeBron James, Kyrie Irving) may elect to step aside for the 2016 games once the NBA Finals are completed next week, but it would surely take a mass exodus for Thomas to get the nod for a tryout from USA basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo at this stage.
Still, with the strides the 26-year-old guard has made as a player in Celtics green the past two seasons, he should be watched closely by Team USA officials in the years to come. In the meantime, one other Celtic (Marcus Smart) has been named to the Team USA Select team this summer, and he'll help the Olympic team by scrimmaging against them for much of the summer leading up to the games.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.
