Wood could join Team USA
Center Christian Wood confirmed he is one of about 60 players USA Basketball has reached out to concerning perhaps competing in the Olympics this summer in Tokyo.
“I have an opportunity to try and win a gold medal for my country,” said Wood, who was raised in California and played collegiately at UNLV. “Coming from where I come from, this is huge … this is like an All-Star game for me — this is big, and I’m appreciative of the opportunity.”
The league’s star players all are part of the pool, as well, according to ESPN, and the Olympics are scheduled to begin in late July — right after the NBA Finals. All schedules are flexible, of course, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is leading the Olympics squad during the Games that were rescheduled from summer 2020.
“I’m going to go in there, and I’m going to give it my all,” Wood said of his excitement in being considered for the Olympics team. “It would mean the world to me.”
Wood finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds in
the Rockets’ 104-101 victory over Portland on Thursday night at Toyota Center after missing the three previous games with an ankle injury. He has scored at least 20 points in 12 of the 13 games in which he
has played.
In other team news, the Rockets assigned Kevin Porter Jr., Brodric Thomas and KJ Martin to the Rio Grande Vipers in the G League bubble. Porter, 20, acquired from Cleveland last week for a protected second round pick, began working out with the Rockets on Wednesday.
Lillard enjoys fans at games
The Trail Blazers have not allowed fans in their home arena so far this season, and star guard Damian Lillard said he found the 25 percent capacity in Toyota Center a nice change of pace.
“The game had better energy just because there were people in the building,” Lillard said. “It was honestly weird to look around and see people in the arena with jerseys on and cheering and stuff like that.”
The Rockets won by three, erasing a 20-point first quarter deficit, but Lillard said he enjoyed the overall experience of seeing actual people in the seats with an attendance of about 4,500.
“It felt good to play in front of a crowd, even though it was a small crowd,” he said. “I can’t wait until we have fans back in the arena at full capacity.”