The U.S. Olympic men's basketball team has been together for two weeks. There have been six practices. The team played four exhibitions. Two roster changes already have been required, and the Americans have no idea when three other players will join the team for the first time.
If that wasn't enough, shortly before they were scheduled to fly Monday, they found out Zach LaVine has entered the health and safety protocols and wouldn't be accompanying them on the flight to Tokyo.
All that probably isn't the formula for Olympic success, but ready or not, Tokyo awaits.
"It's a little bit different," U.S. Coach Gregg Popovich said.
Unprecedented, really, just like almost everything else about these Tokyo Olympics that start Friday. The U.S. -- the three-time defending men's basketball gold medalist -- was leaving Las Vegas on Monday for the trip to Japan, where it'll commence final preparations for the start of the Tokyo Games.
The plan is to have four more practices in Japan before opening Olympic play against France on July 25. The Americans have 12 names on the roster; only eight will be with the team for the trip to Japan because three -- Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker -- are still playing in the NBA Finals and LaVine is in the protocols. There is hope that LaVine will join the team at some point in the not-too-distant future, but he wasn't cleared for Monday's flight.
"I think all of us are better for the adversity we go through, because you either handle it or you don't," Popovich said. "You figure it out. And these guys have had to do that. They've kept their heads up. There might be a disappointment here or there, or an event that takes place, but they move on. And that's what life's all about. So, this is no different."
The adversity has come in bunches for the Americans. During their two-week stay in Las Vegas:
• Bradley Beal was forced to leave the team for virus-related reasons, and Kevin Love backed out because of an injury.
• Jerami Grant was briefly in the health and safety protocols related to the virus and missed a few days.
• Keldon Johnson was promoted from the Select Team (the players brought to Las Vegas so they could practice against the Olympians) to replace Beal, and JaVale McGee was added to the roster to replace Love. McGee was with the team for Sunday's exhibition finale against Spain but did not play, meaning his first action with this team will be during actual Olympic competition.
• The Americans lost to Nigeria and Australia, had to cancel the rematch against the Australians, and for a brief while had only six of the 12 Olympic team members available in camp.
Middleton, Holiday and Booker will play tonight in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. If Milwaukee wins that game -- the Bucks, with Middleton and Holiday, lead Booker and the Phoenix Suns 3-2 in that series -- they would win the NBA title. That would also mean the trio could be in Japan by the weekend, giving time to join the Americans for at least one practice in advance of the game against France.
If Phoenix forces Game 7, it would be Thursday night, the day before the opening ceremony in Tokyo, and three days before the U.S.-France game.
Popovich doesn't know what to expect.
"I have no idea. You know, I'm not trying to be glib. I'm just totally transparent," Popovich said. "We've thought about, 'Are they going to have jet lag? Is it going to be like two days later after they land and they'll be OK?'
"In some ways, it might depend on if everybody else is healthy. If they're not, they've got to play. So, we've gone over lots of scenarios. We haven't figured it out yet, that's for sure."
But as he heads to Tokyo -- for an Olympics amid a pandemic, without fans and without one-quarter of his roster -- even he's still scratching his head. Plus, the U.S. opener in Tokyo is no cakewalk -- France is the team that ousted the U.S. from medal contention at the 2019 Basketball World Cup in China, the tournament that was Popovich's debut as the head coach of the American program.
"We still have a long way to go," Popovich said.
