More NBA Stars Saying No to Rio

The 2016 Olympics in Rio are less than two months away, and USA Basketball's candidate pool is getting whittled down. USA Basketball would probably prefer it if they were the ones doing the whittling though.

On Friday, James Harden and Russell Westbrook both pulled out of consideration for the 2016 Olympic team in separate statements.

Most players have cited injury reasons, while there have been a few that have stated concerns over the Zika virus currently impacting much of South America including Brazil.

USA Basketball published a 31 player list that would be in the running for the roster. Since then seven players have taken themselves out of the running for various reasons. The roster of dropouts is very impressive.

Rio 2016 Dropout Team:
PG Stephen Curry
PG John Wall
PG Russell Westbrook
PG Chris Paul
SG James Harden
PF LaMarcus Aldridge
PF/C Anthony Davis

Granted it's a smaller lineup, the amount of talent not going to Rio could be concerning for USA Basketball's gold medal chances, especially if the trend of players announcing they are not going continues.