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Report: Chris Paul declines invitation to play for Team USA at Tokyo Olympics

Report: Chris Paul declines invitation to play for Team USA at Tokyo Olympics
Posted at 12:26 PM, Jun 22, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-22 16:30:52-04

UPDATE: After an initial report indicating that Chris Paul was planning to commit for Team USA, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that he has in fact declined his invitation to play at the Tokyo Olympics.

Wojnarowski notes that if Paul's Phoenix Suns reach the NBA Finals, the turnaround to Tokyo would be too small for Paul to realistically prepare for the international competition.

View social media post: https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1407418087184519169

The original copy of this story can be read below.

Another day, another star NBA player committing to Team USA.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul is planning to make the trip to Tokyo for the Summer Olympics. Paul's Suns teammate Devin Booker is also planning on making the trip for the Games, per Charania.

View social media post: https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1407369978010030083

This will be Paul's third appearance at the Olympics after helping Team USA win gold in 2008 and 2012. Paul withdrew from the 2016 Olympic team to give his body additional time for rest.

Paul, 36, is likely to be one of the oldest players on Team USA. The 11-time NBA All-Star, named to the All-NBA First Team four times, is currently in the midst of a playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA's conference finals. Despite his highly successful career in the pros, Paul has yet to win an NBA championship, but this year's Suns team may be good enough to help him finally reach that goal.

Bam Adebayo, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum have also reportedly committed to Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics.

The final roster for the 12-player squad will officially be announced at a later date.