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Team USA's Lowry withdraws from World Cup

Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry will not be competing for the United States at the upcoming FIBA World Cup in China.

By Opta
lowry-kyle-08122019-getty-ftr.jpg

LA, August 13: Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry will not be competing for the United States at the upcoming FIBA World Cup in China.

Raptors guard Lowry announced his withdrawal from Team USA on Monday, citing health reasons.

Lowry had surgery on his right thumb in July following Toronto's NBA triumph over the Golden State Warriors. He reportedly made the trip to training camp despite having a fear the injury would not allow him to play.

He was a member of the 2016 gold-medal team and still hopes to represent USA at the 2020 Olympics.

"This is a status update message regarding the 2019 FIBA World Cup," he wrote, in part, in a note posted on Instagram.

"I was hoping [to] be cleared and ready for the tournament but I was not cleared for full basketball activities...

"At the end of the day I believe the men that are playing will be great and will win the gold for our country."

Go USAB!!

A post shared by Kyle Lowry (@kyle_lowry7) on

Lowry was one of the 17 finalists to make the roster for the tournament, which will run from August 31 to September 15.

The news of Lowry's departure comes just a day after Marvin Bagley III also withdrew. There are now 15 players for the 12 open roster spots.

USA head coach Gregg Popovich has had to deal with the dwindling numbers.

"All I care about is who's here," Popovich said at the first day of training camp last week. "I've got a fine group of guys and we're going to get the best possible team we can.

"This is the most satisfying form of putting a bunch of guys together and them have empathy and love for each other to form the kind of team they're going to have to beat some really good European teams."

Lowry is the latest in a long list of players — including Bradley Beal, James Harden, Anthony Davis, CJ McCollum, Eric Gordon, Tobias Harris, Andre Drummond, Montrezl Harrell and Bagley — who pulled their name out of consideration for the World Cup.

Story first published: Tuesday, August 13, 2019, 13:45 [IST]
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