Team USA's wealth of talent is the ultimate embarrassment of riches.
USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo will look to cobble together 12 players to take to Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics and he's got dozens of All-Stars to pick from.
"I call it a high-class problem to have too many people who want to participate," Colangelo told Michael Lee of The Vertical. "Because we have 31 names, really, you can take two or three hits from guys who it might not be in their best interest, and it's going to be OK."
To put Team USA's inexhaustible depth into perspective, 19 of the NBA's top 20 leading scorers are American. Canadian swingman Andrew Wiggins (20.7 points per game) is the only player who breaks the mold.
Team USA's overwhelming edge in talent explains in part why they're 75-1 under Colangelo's watch.
That being said, Colangelo's job is by no means easy. As demonstrated by the Americans' disastrous showing in 2004, blindly choosing a bundle of superstars without concern for roles, personalities, or team-building could prove disastrous.
Above all, Colangelo wants his players to stay committed to the program. He held a training camp last summer in which attendance was mandatory for enrollment going forward.
"All of those things still are very, very important to me. The equity, relationships, but it has to work both ways," Colangelo said. "Are they as committed individually? Each guy has to come to his own conclusion."
