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Suns' Devin Booker Reaffirms Commitment to Team USA Amid Roster Turnover
July 16, 2021
Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker doesn't plan to back out of the Tokyo Olympics amid a series of roster moves with the United States men's basketball team.
Booker told reporters Friday his "commitment is still there" to join the U.S. team after the NBA Finals.
The American squad lost Kevin Love and Bradley Beal in the last two days.
Love said Friday he was withdrawing because he didn't feel physically up to the standard required for the Olympics.
"I am incredibly disappointed to not be heading to Tokyo with Team USA, but you need to be at absolute peak performance to compete at the Olympic level, and I am just not there yet," he said in a statement.
On Thursday, USA head coach Gregg Popovich announced Beal won't travel with the team after being placed in health and safety protocols.
Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported Jerami Grant was also put into the protocols but didn't test positive for COVID-19. Popovich remains hopeful the Detroit Pistons forward can stay with the team.
Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Team USA added JaVale McGee and Keldon Johnson to the roster to replace Love and Beal.
Last month, Booker committed to play for the United States in the Olympics. This will mark his first appearance on the national team roster. He played on the Select team in 2016.
The Suns are still playing in the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks. The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 scheduled for Saturday at 9 p.m. ET.
If the series goes to Game 7, it would be played July 22. Team USA will open play at the Olympics in Tokyo on July 25 against France in the second game of Group A.
Booker has taken the leap to superstardom this postseason. The 24-year-old is averaging 27.1 points on 44.6 percent shooting, 5.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in 20 playoff starts.