Kawhi Leonard plans to play Gregg Popovich again and get a gold medal.
Leonard said on Sunday at the NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta that he plans to compete with US basketball this summer at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics – which will bring him to Popovich.
Leonard spent his first seven seasons in the NBA with Popovich and San Antonio Spurs, before moving on to the Toronto Raptors and now to the LA Clippers. Popovich will serve as head coach at the Olympics for the first time.
“My plan is to go,” said Leonard. He helped Popovich and the Spurs win the 2014 NBA Championship and was the MVP for the NBA Finals that season.
The Olympics can be a potentially tight schedule for Leonard. The Clippers are likely to be one of the candidates to win the Western Conference finals and play in the NBA finals – which, if they are the full seven games, are currently scheduled to end on July 22.
The Tokyo Olympics begin on July 23 and the United States play their first match against France on July 25.
“If I’m in the mood and ready to go then, then I’m going to play,” said Leonard.
USA Basketball is expected to finalize a pool of players of around 60 names – many of them remaining from the 44 announced as members of the pool last year, a group that includes Leonard – in the not-too-distant future. From there, a team will be chosen, and the current plan is to bring that group to Las Vegas around July 1 to begin the training camp and a series of exhibition games against other national teams.
The United States team, including managing director Jerry Colangelo, male national team manager Sean Ford, Popovich and technical assistants Lloyd Pierce, Steve Kerr and Jay Wright have been talking for months about plans and contingencies – including which players they might want wait even if your NBA clubs enter the finals.
Many top NBA players said that by entering the 2019-20 season they were considering plans for the Olympics before the pandemic hit and the Olympics were postponed for a year.
“Many people were in 2020, but just the pandemic killed almost everything,” said Leonard.