Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul announced yesterday that he will withdraw from consideration for Team USA in the 2016 Olympics.
Paul, who won gold medals with the team in 2008 and 2016, had a suggestion for who should be his replacement: Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. From Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated:
“Of course, you’ll have Steph (Curry) and those guys,” Paul said. “Someone else I think would be great is Kyle Lowry. I love watching him play. You need that grit.” Oddly, Lowry is not on the list of 30 finalists, but Curry, Westbrook, Mike Conley, John Wall, Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard are. The NBA has no shortage of premier point guards ready to take the torch.
It’s certainly a surprise that Lowry isn’t on the list of finalists. He has undoubtedly been a top-5 point guard in the league this season, averaging a career-high 21.6 points per game, to go with 6.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 steals. Lowry’s Raptors are currently 2.5 games behind Cleveland, and have the 2nd seed in the East with a record of 49-24. Lowry was a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Star this team for the second consecutive year.
Lowry is an obvious choice to join the Olympic team, and I’ll be surprised if he is passed over.
