By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The 2019 World Cup draw was held and the USA national team ended up in Group E with Turkey, Czech Republic and Japan. The Houston Rockets‘ star James Harden is among the 36 players on the USA’s preliminary roster and is already enthusiastic about helping his national team in China:
“Of course I want to play. It’s an opportunity to represent your country, go out there and play basketball. It’s something I love doing. If that opportunity presents itself, I’ll be in. Not everyone gets that opportunity. As a basketball player, that’s one of the highest points you can get for basketball”, Harden said to the Houston Chronicle.
Harden missed the 2016 Olympics in Rio but the last time he played for the USA, at the World Cup in Spain, he averaged 14.2 points while shooting more than 50% from the field.
The 29-year-old is having one of the best seasons of his career so far with the Houston Rockets averaging 36.1 points, 7.6 assists and 6.5 rebounds this season and his focus is on that primarily but notes it’s ‘pretty awesome’ playing for your own country:
“Obviously, you have the NBA and you have winning a championship and all that good stuff playing for your respective cities. Where you’re from, you’re playing for an entire country, the country you represent. It’s pretty awesome to be a part of it”, he said.