The San Antonio Spurs may be waiting for their next opponent in the 2012 NBA playoffs but the summer Olympics are right around the corner.
The Spurs will be heavily represented with Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills, assistant coach Brett Brown being present for their respective country, as will Tony Parker and Boris Diaw.
In what can only be labeled as a no-brainer, both Parker and Diaw have been named to the 16-man French national team preliminary squad along with Rony Turiaf, Joakim Noah, Rodrigue Beaubois, former Spur Ian Mahinmi, Nicolas Batum, and Kevin Seraphin.
Parker will be leading France in what will be a very competitive march toward basketball Olympic Gold against powerhouse teams such as Team USA, Spain, and Argentina in the field.
Many point to the battle for the gold will come down to Team USA and Spain, but with Team USA losing Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, and Chauncey Billups to various injuries, who knows if the US team is ripe for an upset and France can sneak in as a legitimate gold medal contender.
Interesting to note is that Diaw, who will be a free agent after this season, and Batum, who has expressed interest in joining the Spurs next season, will be playing with Parker in London. Who knows if TP will be able to convince both Diaw and Batum to sign with the Spurs despite the financial situation for San Antonio.
Remember, Diaw, Danny Green, James Anderson and Gary Neal are free agents after this season, and Tim Duncan has yet to be resigned. The Spurs hold the option on DeJuan Blair and Mills hold a player’s option.
