Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski let it be known last summer during Olympic qualifying that he valued the jack-of-all-trades versatility Tayshaun Prince afforded him, so it wasn’t a big surprise Thursday when the Associated Press reported that an NBA source has confirmed Prince will be a member of the United States Olympic team in Beijing this summer.
The formal announcement of the 12-man team is scheduled to be made during a Monday press conference in Chicago.
Krzyzewski was believed to be lobbying for Prince’s inclusion, especially since his former Duke All-American, three-time NCAA Defensive Player of the Year Shane Battier, was ruled out due to injury.
Prince played last summer when Team USA went unbeaten in the Tournament of the Americas qualifier in Las Vegas, as did Pistons teammate Chauncey Billups. Billups this week informed Team USA officials that he would no longer be participating in the Olympics due to personal family reasons that could potentially force him to back out later.
A few other quick tidbits:
The Pistons are putting together their summer league roster and nothing is official yet, but three names on the preliminary list are interesting. One is Alex Acker, who played with the Pistons three seasons ago as a rookie second-rounder but has played in Greece and Spain the past two seasons. He remains Pistons property. The two that aren’t solid yet, neither of whom would be Pistons property even if they play in Las Vegas but could be invited to camp or signed to contracts even before camp, both will be familiar to NBA fans.
When Pistons owner William Davidson is inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September, Joe Dumars will give his presentation speech. Hall rules say a new inductee must be presented by another Hall of Famer. Dumars was a member of the 2006 class.
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