The long list of 25 candidates for the 2008 USA Basketball team for the Olympics has finally been announced. The USA Basketball team is looking to redeem itself after a poor bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics.

The list includes 21 NBA stars (in alphabetical order): Carmelo Anthony, Gilbert Arenas, Shane Battier, Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Bruce Bowen, Elton Brand, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion, Brad Miller, Lamar Odom, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, Michael Redd, Luke Ridnour, Amare Stoudemire, and Dwyane Wade.

JJ Redick and Adam Morrison, who are currently still in college, are also invited, bringing the list to 23 players in total.

The exclusion of a player has caught the attention of the media, and his name is Allen Iverson. Many point to Iverson’s age and style of play as reasons for his exclusion, despite his significant role in the recent Olympics.

“We wanted a team not of individual stars, but of athletes, shooters, role players and distributors,” said national team managing director Jerry Colangelo.

Colangelo also hopes high school basketball star Greg Oden can join the team for coaching this summer.

All 23 players will attend a training camp in Las Vegas in July. The team will then fly to China and South Korea for exhibition games. Afterwards, a 12-man roster will be selected for the world championships to be held in Japan.

There will be another training camp in 2007, which could be a regional Olympic qualifier. Another camp and additional exhibition games will follow in 2008, before the Beijing Olympics begin.

The team will be led by Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.