Many people were confused by the decision to add Kevin Love to the Team USA roster for the Tokyo Olympics next month, especially considering how little the Cleveland Cavaliers veteran has played in recent years.
Team USA director Jerry Colangelo, however, defended his choice to keep Love around as the Americans try to claim a fourth straight gold medal in Japan.
Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Jerami Grant, Draymond Green, Jrue Holiday, Zach LaVine, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton join Love to round out the 12-man roster.
Booker, with the Suns, and both Middleton and Holiday, with the Bucks, are still making playoff runs and could end up dropping out should their respective teams make the NBA Finals. The last possible date for a Finals game is set for one day before the opening ceremonies.
Love has more than proved himself as a great basketball player throughout his 13-year career in the league.
The five-time All-Star helped lead the Cavaliers to a title in 2016 with LeBron James, and he claimed the longest double-double streak since the NBA-ABA merger back with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Like Colangelo noted, Love has international experience, too. He won a gold medal with Team USA during the 2012 Olympics in London, and helped lead the team to a gold medal at the FIBA World Cup two years earlier.
