The Olympics are about to start with no Houston Rockets on the US team. But was playing against it a stepping stone for two young players? It was an opportunity to play against the very best, but was it the opportunity they needed to get the very best out of themselves?
Olympics: Young Houston Rockets Selected For Future Greatness?
Guess When Houston Last Had A US Player At The Olympics
Unsurprisingly, the Houston Rockets are once again lacking representation on the USA men’s basketball team. There hasn’t been a Rocket in US international play since 2014 when James Harden played in the FIBA World Cup. Meanwhile, the Beard served his only Olympic tour in 2012, the same year he wound up on the Rockets. But that trade occurred in late October after much-misguided haranguing by the Oklahoma City front office. So, since the Olympic Games occur this summer, Harden hadn’t yet joined the franchise where the best part of his career would take place. In fact, ironically, there hasn’t been a US Olympian who was an active Rockets player since Nigerian-born Hakeem Olajuwon in 1996.
But this year’s select team once again came equipped with a couple of Houston “dunkstronauts” specifically, Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. For those unfamiliar with the USA Select Teams, they are a specially selected group of young American players. These players then get the opportunity to scrimmage against the Olympians. That’s quite the opportunity, especially this year.
This isn’t the 2020 team, which was something of a down year for Olympic men’s basketball, particularly since they only played in 2021. This year’s team is top-notch. If they wanted to skew positional norms a bit, they could start five established all-time greats: MVPs or members of the official 75th-anniversary team, at minimum. Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry could all get into the Hall of Fame if they retired tomorrow. Presumably, some of those players are treating this as a last hurrah in terms of international competition. A new wave of Olympians will be needed.
The Other Avenue For A Houston Star At The Olympics
Of course, a US player might not be Houston fans’ best bet to watch one of their team’s stars in the Olympics in the near (bit of a leap, so to speak) future. Instead, it may be Alperen Sengun. Turkey didn’t qualify for this tournament, and they don’t have the most promising overall roster or basketball tradition.
But if Turkey were to make it next time around, then a prime Sengun would certainly have something to do with that. Admittedly, their participation might not extend past the round-robin phase, which is something you can always count on with the US team. But the international appeal of the game is increasing. It remains to be seen whether US dominance will still hold up four years from now. But then, Houston has so far been cagey about Sengun’s contract situation. So whether he’ll still be on the Rockets by that time remains to be seen as well.
The US Select Team
But, as far as Houston-based US Olympians are concerned, there is some hope. Many past men’s team members have first gone through the process of participating in the select team scrimmages. Naturally, that doesn’t mean that an invite is a guarantee of future superstardom. But men’s national team managing director Grant Hill had this to say:
“As a former member of the USA Select Team, I know how important and fun this opportunity is… Each of these athletes will play a role in our preparation as we also develop the national team pipeline for the future.”
He and fellow future All-Star Chris Webber played against none other than the 1992 Dream Team. Famously, the collegiate players actually defeated the NBA superstars in their first scrimmage. Perhaps even more famously, the next day, the Olympians took things more seriously, resulting in a gruesome blowout.
More valuable for these young players than the scrimmages themselves, of course, is simply the inside glimpse at the habits of NBA icons. National Head Coach Steve Kerr was reportedly enthralled by the conviction with which LeBron James approached practice. There aren’t any work ethic questions hovering around either of Houston’s possible future Olympians. Nonetheless, there’s still always plenty to learn from watching a living legend at work.
The focus of most commentary on the Select Team has been Cooper Flagg. He’s a promising young player, widely expected to be next year’s number-one pick in the draft. It’s therefore natural that he would attract the majority of media attention. In fact, expectations for him soar above those of some other recent number-one picks (Victor Wembanyama is naturally excluded). With that in mind, it makes even more sense. Smith and Thompson may have attracted less attention, but one of the young Houston Rockets certainly had a notable moment preparing a veteran for the Olympics:
Jabari actually dunking with authority instead of finger rolls👀👀 pic.twitter.com/7edFxjzOgv
— anthony (@LubeForSale) July 8, 2024
The Last Word
Most importantly, the young Rockets are among those who will actually be playing NBA games against the Olympians next season. We’ll get to see what kinds of improvements they’ll have implemented in their game when they do. Maybe one day, either player will look back on a much-decorated career and say, “Playing against the 2024 Olympic team, that was when it clicked.” For now, these Houston players will be watching and rooting for Team USA at the Olympics like the rest of America.
