Report: Anthony Davis severely sprains ankle, out of Olympics

And Team USA loses another potential big man for the roster.

Recent No. 1 pick Anthony Davis severely sprained his ankle in a workout for the Hornets, which leaves him very unlikely to be ready when USA Basketball opens training camp Friday (July 6) in Las Vegas and he is now out for the games, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and the NBC Sports Network.

Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated added USA Basketball president Jerry Colangelo heard about the injury yesterday but didn’t know the severity of it at the time.

Apparently, pretty severe. And certainly the Hornets do not want to take any risks with their new face of the franchise. He should be fully recovered before the start of training camp, but whether he plays at Summer League may also be up in the air.

Team USA is really thin along the front line for the Olympics. Already Dwight Howard was out due to his back injury, LaMarcus Aldridge pulled out early due to injury, then last week Chris Bosh removed himself as he tries to recover from his abdominal injury suffered during the playoffs.

That leaves Tyson Chandler as the starting and only true center on the team. Expect to see Kevin Love get a lot of time at the five. It also means the special workout coach Mike Krzyzewski is having before the start of camp with Lamar Odom and Blake Griffin matters even more. No word on if a new big like DeMarcus Cousins or Roy Hibbert will be added to consideration for the team.

For most of the Olympic tournament going small with Love at the five and LeBron James at the four will be fine for Team USA. That whole “LeBron as power forward” thing overwhelmed NBA teams, no international teams will have an answer. But when Team USA runs into the world’s second best team, Spain (likely facing off for the gold medal) it will matter. Spain stars Marc and Pau Gasol and brings Serge Ibaka off the bench. They have real size with skill.

Team USA will also be without Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Chauncey Billups do to injury.

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In a separate note, young 76ers guard Jrue Holiday has been added to the USA Select team. That is the team invited to Team USA training camp as practice partners for the London-bound team. It is also where Team USA officials get a close look at guys they may want to play for Team USA in future tournaments.