Kawhi Leonard may have just withdrawn from Team USA, but as it turns out, a select few saw this coming from a mile away. Massive names within that group, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce spoke on just this topic at the end of April 2024. And at that time, they came up with two very good suggestions as replacements for the 33-year-old on Team USA.
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During their discussion on KG: Certified, both legends took their time to really think about the options available to replace Kawhi Leonard. At one point, it seemed to have dawned on Garnett that Kyrie Irving had not been selected for Team USA. Seeming almost infuriated, he said,
“Kyrie is not on the team! I don’t know what the f–k going on! We can’t say we taking the best if we don’t take that young gentleman. I’m sorry, f–k all the other sh-t, like we trying to win here? What we doing? He needs to be on the team!”
During his former teammate’s case, Pierce realized who he wanted his pick to be. So, when he saw the opportunity, he almost cut his KG off to announce his replacement.
“Oh, you got to bring Jaylen Brown if Kawhi don’t go! Jaylen Brown would be a good replacement… Yeah you gotta bring Jaylen Brown! I mean, you got a guy who can play a role on there, who, he ain’t gonna have no big ego with them. So, I think he’ll fit in with that group.”
Both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett’s picks are very hard to argue with. However, unfortunately for them, and the players they mentioned, Team USA chose Derrick White as Kawhi Leonard’s replacement.
The rationale behind picking the Celtics’ defensive specialist seems logical. Team USA has more than enough scorers who can make all kinds of shots. However, there does seem to be a slight lack of gritty, ‘do all the dirty work for the team’ defenders, something White specializes in.
So, while it would have likely been beyond fun to see Kyrie Irving or Jaylen Brown join the Team USA fiesta at the Olympics, the team is not in the mood to take any risks. And perhaps this is why, this iteration of the country’s roster may just turn out to be the most dominant of all time.
