USA Basketball considering Houston center Christian Wood for 2021 Olympics
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New Houston Rockets center Christian Wood is atttracting attention from around the world for his fast start to the 2020-21 NBA season.
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the 25-year-old’s list of admirers includes the leadership of USA Basketball, which is in charge of putting together a roster for the 2021 Olympics in Japan. Those Olympics were supposed to be held in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay.
“The selection process at center will be interesting for this team, a problem-area for Team USA in 2019 World Cup,” Woj tweeted. “Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Houston’s Christian Wood — one of the league’s success stories in 2020-2021 — are among invitees to fill those roles.”
Selection process at center will be interesting for this team, a problem-area for Team USA in 2019 World Cup. Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Houston’s Christian Wood – one of the league’s success stories in 2020-2021 – are among invitees to fill those roles, sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 23, 2021
Team USA, which typically is the world’s best team on the international stage, finished in a disappointing seventh place during the 2019 World Cup. Many of the NBA’s biggest names did not participate.
But the Olympics often incentivize greater participation by the NBA’s best players, and it appears that Wood is considered to be in that mix. In his first season as a consistent starter, the 6-foot-10 big man is averaging 23.5 points (52.8% FG) and 10.8 rebounds per game with the Rockets.
The 2021 Olympics are currently scheduled to be held between July 23 and August 8, which could potentially conflict with the 2021 NBA Finals and lead to players from those teams declining to participate in Tokyo. But after the recent trade of superstar guard James Harden, the Rockets (5-9) generally aren’t viewed as a championship contender this season. In turn, that will likely make Wood available as a potential selection.
