Team USA basketball to form a pre-Olympic bubble with Team Australia and Team Spain in Las Vegas

 The USA men's basketball team has to compete in Tokyo Olympics this year. They are planning to create a pre-Olympic bubble with the teams of Australia and Spain in Las Vegas for rehearsal and exhibition purposes, the managing director Jerry Colangelo revealed. 

USA men's basketball team and the pre-Olympic bubble

The managing director of the USA Basketball team, Jerry Colangelo revealed that the team would do training in Las Vegas before they leave for Tokyo for the Olympics. They will join with the respective teams from Spain and Australia. These three teams would be in the same bubble so that they will have to travel less and thus be less exposed to the deadly coronavirus which is still circulating worldwide. The games would be held from 22 May 2021 to 22 July 2021. 

Team USA would open training camps by 4 July when the league's playoffs would be in progress. Jerry said:

"On the surface it makes a lot of sense. We have to be flexible."

Spain are the current reigning world champions in basketball. It has 5 players who had earlier played in the Olympics and Australia has 10. 

Team USA hoops (Source: Pinterest)

Also read China and its warning to the world on coronavirus probe 

Jerry calls for changes this year

Usually, rosters for the Olympic Games had to be submitted weeks in advance to the Olympics Committee. But the NBA playoffs would be ongoing until 3 days before the USA team's first Olympic game. Hence Jerry has asked for some changes. He has asked the U.S. Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee and FIBA, which runs the Olympic basketball tournament has asked that roster changes should be allowed even during the Olympics. He has not yet heard back from them:

"These are not normal times. Rosters by a certain date doesn't make any sense. What we're seeking is flexibility to substitute players very late and to get the best players on the court. It doesn't just apply to us but for all the countries."

Japan and the Olympics

The Olympics games were to be held in Tokyo last year but the Covid-19 pandemic forced the Olympic committee to decide to postpone it this year. But the pandemic is still on. But the IOC has stated that players only need to test their coronavirus status before they travel to Japan. They do not need to be vaccinated. Also, the committe has not made quarantine mandatory for them.