Knicks Star Snubbed From Olympics Again

The luck of the Irish, rather than the New York Knicks, is leading to a chance for American glory on the Olympic stage.

The United States’ men’s national basketball team engaged in a quick switch on Wednesday: with the team announcing that Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard would be removing himself from the Olympic proceedings due to lingering injuries, Marc J. Spears of Andscape revealed that Boston Celtics breakout Derrick White would take his place in Paris.

Team USA is going for its fifth consecutive gold medal at the Paris Games. With White reportedly in tow, the team is also headlined by Kevin Durant (Phoenix), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia), and LeBron James (LA Lakers). White will join fellow Celtics and newly-minted NBA champions Jrue Holiday and Jayson Tatum.

Once again denied in the process is Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, who will be staying home for the summer despite standing as the top American scorer in the most recent season. Brunson was widely viewed as one of the most glaring snubs from the star-spangled ledger, which is set to square off against Puerto Rico, Serbia, and South Sudan in group play.

In all likelihood, Brunson was probably far from the Americans’ consideration after what transpired toward the end of the Knicks’ most recent playoff run: Brunson fell victim to the injury bug that apparently invaded the New York locker room this year, as he fractured his hand during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against American Olympian rep Tyrese Haliburton.

Brunson previously partook in Team USA’s activities at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup last summer, where the team finished a disappointing fourth.

Team USA opens group play on July 28 against Serbia but has an exhibition on Wednesday night in Las Vegas against Canada (10:30 p.m. ET, FS1). Despite the lack of Knicks, New York basketball will be well-represented in the Olympics thanks to the New York Liberty: Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart will partly headlined the American women effort while Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally are listed on Germany’s roster.

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