London 2012: Team USA Smart to Add James Harden, Anthony Davis to Olympic Squad

One man's injury is another man's opportunity, or so it goes for James Harden, Anthony Davis and (perhaps) the fortunes of Team USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, the super sub for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the presumed No. 1 pick in the 2012 NBA draft have been added to the list of finalists hoping to join the Yanks across the pond this summer:

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Yahoo! Sports has received confirmation that USA Basketball will add Thunder F James Harden & Kentucky F-C Anthony Davis, a source said.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) May 3, 2012"

Harden's Hopes

A rash of injuries to America's stars, particularly Derrick Rose and Chauncey Billups, has rendered the addition of a guard like Harden a veritable necessity for Jerry Colangelo and Company.

Of course, getting an invite to camp hardly doubles as a guarantee that Harden will wind up competing with the best of the best for a gold medal. Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski will only be able to bring 12 players with him, and already has Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade practically etched in stone at shooting guard, Harden's position of choice.

That being said, Harden still has a solid shot to represent his country in London. Should Coach K choose to carry three 2-guards on the roster, Harden would be an excellent choice to fill that spot, ahead of the uber-talented-but-oft-injured Eric Gordon.

Harden is already well suited to a reserve role, a notion that's likely to be bolstered once he's named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year. The third-year wing out of Arizona State can fill it up in a hurry, and sports the sort of old-school style and deceptive athleticism that thrives in the international game.

Harden's also one of the more underrated passers. He averaged 3.7 assists per game during the 2011-12 NBA regular season (a jump of 1.6 from the previous season), and might be the best distributor of the ball in OKC.

Granted, that's not a huge compliment, per se, considering his top two competitors in that regard (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook) are hard-wired to score first and foremost.

Nonetheless, Harden's combination of versatility, ball-handling, athleticism, comfort with coming off the bench and a sweet shooting stroke make him a valuable addition to any group—Team USA included.

If nothing else, Harden's hipster hairdo and fashion sense should add some spice to mix for America.

Team USA for The Brow?

Speaking of fascinating follicular phenomena, Anthony Davis will get at least a taste of Olympic competition in light of debilitating injuries suffered by big men Dwight Howard and LaMarcus Aldridge during the season. The 19-year-old kid with the meme-inspiring unibrow was a shot-blocking machine during his one year at Kentucky, during which he led John Calipari's Wildcats to their first NCAA tournament title since 1998.

His odds of making the squad are significantly slimmer than Harden's, though. Davis' youthful inexperience leaves him a bit farther down in the pecking order at power forward and center, behind two-time All-Stars Blake Griffin and Kevin Love, seven-time All-Star Chris Bosh and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler.

Not that Davis can't or won't be able to hang with such high-caliber pivot men—rather, having so many big bodies would be more of a hindrance than a helping hand in the international game, which favors open-court fluidity over half-court structure.

Assuming Griffin, Love, Bosh and Chandler are already on the team—along with Kobe, Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Deron Williams—there will only be one spot left to fill.

And five NBA stars (i.e. Harden, Russell Westbrook, Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala and Eric Gordon) are itching to nab it.

Then again, if 1992 had the Dream Team and 2008 had the Redeem Team, then 2012 surely should yield the Meme Team, in a nod to the ubiquity of pithy Internet humor.

Who better to bolster that label than Anthony Davis? Or James Harden, for that matter?

Someone had better make cure Colangelo and Coach K are plugged into Twitter and the blogosphere, lest they overlook this golden opportunity to so seamlessly blend culture and sport. 

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