Boston Celtics Star Has No Plans Of Abandoning Team USA

There is no turning back for Kemba Walker as far as donning the colors of TEAM USA is concerned. With most top NBA names pulling out to focus on the coming season, the newly acquired guard of the Boston Celtics recently said that he is “All In”.

"I'm excited, USA basketball is something that I've been wanting to do for a very long time," said Walker in a report from TMZ Sports. "So, to get this opportunity, I'm excited. I won't be dropping out."

For a change, this should be a big sigh of relief for USA Basketball coach Gregg Popovich who has been forced to expand his search to the next NBA stars in line. Among the players who are still around include Kyle Lowry, Kyle Kuzma, PJ Tucker, and Jayson Tatum.

Also ready for the FIBA World Cup challenge is Utah Jazz superstar Donovan Mitchell. As mentioned in a previous post, the 22-year-old cager is confident that even with most of the top basketball names opting out, Team USA has a good change to accomplish a three-peat.

"At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who we have, we're going to compete for our country and I'm excited to play," he said.

Among the new additions to the 2019 FIBA World Cup include Julius Randle of the New York Knicks, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart of the Celtics, Montrezl Harrell of the Los Angeles Clippers, Mason Plumlee of the Denver Nuggets, and Thaddeus Young of the Chicago Bulls. They will take the place of eight original Team USA players who withdrew their intent to participate this August.

And while USA Basketball may have lost a bit of glamour with the big names opting out, many feel that Team USA will still be a tough nut to crack. That includes Chris Goulding of the Australian Boomers who feels that Team USA is still going to be stronger than any other NBA team.

"I can understand it's disappointing that the so called biggest names aren't going to be there, but when you're talking about Team USA and the likes of Middleton and Walker, these are superstars of our game," Goulding told ESPN.

Team USA training camp is set to start this August 5. The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup competition will be held Aug. 31 - Sept. 15 in China.