Three Celtics Among Finalists For USA Basketball’s Tokyo Olympics Roster

Boston Celtics stars Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown remain Olympic hopefuls.

USA Basketball named the Celtics trio to its list of finalists for Team USA’s men’s basketball roster for the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday, according to ESPN. Brown, Tatum and Walker are among 57 NBA stars who comprise the finalists list.

Due to the delayed start of the 2020-21 NBA season, the NBA playoffs won’t begin until May 22 and they’ll run as late as July 22. The men’s Olympic basketball tournament is scheduled to begin July 25, and the gold- and bronze-medal games are set for Aug. 7. With just three days between the end of the NBA Finals and start of the Olympics, USA Basketball will have to comprise its roster of players whose teams are out of the NBA playoffs by a certain date or those willing to sacrifice part of an already short offseason.

Brown, Walker and Tatum were USA Basketball’s 2019 FIBA World Cup team, which disastrously finished seventh place. They and other potential Olympians undoubtedly will look to put things right in Tokyo.