PHOENIX — We are less than three weeks away from the Opening Ceremonies of the 2024 Olympics in Paris and many countries, including the US, are finalizing the field of athletes they will be sending to France to compete for gold.
On Sunday, two basketball stars with ties to the Valley learned they will be Olympians — the Phoenix Mercury's Rebecca Allen and former Perry High School star Jordan Howard — but neither of them will be representing Team USA.
Rebecca 'Bec' Allen named to Australia Opals
Allen will be representing the Land Down Under in Paris.
The Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia native is headed to her second Olympics, as she represented Australia in Tokyo three years ago helping lead the Opals to the quarterfinals, where they lost to Team USA 79-55.
Allen played in all four games for Australia in Tokyo. She also played for the Opals in the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Australia and won bronze with the host country.
The 6'2", 162 lb. forward/guard also helped the Opals secure their spot in Paris by winning their Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Brazil in February. The Opals beat Brazil, Germany and Serbia to claim their spot in Paris. Allen averaged 11.3 points, three rebounds and two assists per game in the tournament.
Allen began her WNBA career with the New York Liberty in 2015. She spent seven seasons in New York before being traded to the Connecticut Sun. After one season with the Sun, the Mercury acquired Allen in a sign-and-trade in Feb. 2024.
In 14 games this season with the Mercury, Allen is averaging 7.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.
The Opals were placed in Group B in Paris with France, Canada and Nigeria. They will open Olympic play on July 29 against Nigeria, then play Canada on Aug. 1 and France on Aug. 4.
Jordan Howard headed to Olympics with Puerto Rico
Perry High School is a basketball powerhouse now, as they have won three straight state championships, and much of the foundation for their recent success was laid by Jordan Howard (and his brothers, Markus and Desmond) a decade ago.
While they were unable to lead Perry to a state championship, the Howards made an impact with the Pumas.
Desmond went on to play basketball in junior college. Markus played at Marquette, in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets, and represented Team USA in the 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship, winning gold medals both times.
Jordan, who was the top scorer in Arizona, averaging 25.6 points per game during the 2013-14 season, played his college basketball at Central Arkansas where his honors included Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in 2015 and Player of the Year in 2018.
Since leaving Central Arkansas, Howard has spent time playing in the G-League and overseas, most recently for Osos de Manatí in Puerto Rico.
Now Howard will be able to add the title "Olympian" to his resume after qualifying with Puerto Rico by winning the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in San Juan on Sunday.
Puerto Rico, which is led by New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, went 4-0 in the tournament, beating Bahrain, Italy, Mexico and Lithuania to claim a spot in Paris.
In the championship game, where Puerto Rico beat Lithuania 79-68, Howard scored 12 points and had one rebound and one assist as he came off the bench and played 15 minutes.
In the tournament, Howard averaged 11.3 points per game, one rebound per game and 1.8 assists per game.
Howard is eligible to play for Puerto Rico as his mother is Puerto Rican.
This will be Puerto Rico's first trip to the Olympics since the 2004 Olympics in Greece.
Puerto Rico will be in Group C in Paris with the USA, South Sudan and Serbia. They will open Olympic play on July 28 against South Sudan then play Serbia on July 31 and the USA on Aug. 3.
Other Olympic notes
Greece also qualified for the Olympics on Sunday, claiming their spot by winning an Olympic qualifying tournament in Greece.
The Greek roster features center Georgios Papagiannis, who was technically drafted by the Suns with the 13th overall pick in 2016. However, his rights were traded to the Sacramento Kings on draft night and Papagiannis never suited up for the Suns.
In total, 18 athletes with ties to Arizona will be playing basketball in the 2024 Olympics. They are:
- Suns forward Kevin Durant (USA)
- Suns guard Devin Booker (USA)
- Former Suns center Jock Landale (Australia)
- Former Arizona Wildcats guard Josh Green (Australia)
- Former Northern Arizona Suns guard David Krämer (Germany)
- Former Suns guard/forward Yuta Watanabe (Japan)
- Former Suns guard Élie Okobo (France)
- Former Arizona State Sun Devils guard/forward Lugentz Dort (Canada)
- Former Suns draft pick, center Georgios Papagiannis (Greece)
- Former Suns draft pick, guard Bogdan Bogdanović (Serbia)
- Rights traded to Kings on draft night with Papagiannis in 2016, never played for Suns
- Former Arizona Wildcats center Dušan Ristić (Serbia)
- Former Arizona State Sun Devils forward Uroš Plavšić (Serbia)
- Mercury guard Diana Taurasi (USA)
- Mercury center Brittney Griner (USA)
- Mercury guard/forward Kahleah Copper (USA)
- Mercury guard/forward Rebecca Allen (Australia)
- Former Mercury guard Kia Nurse (Canada)
- Former Arizona State Sun Devils guard Promise Amukamara (Nigeria)
Former Arizona Wildcat and Phoenix Sun Steve Kerr will be the head coach for USA men's basketball at the Olympics. Former Mercury head coach Sandy Brondello will be the head coach for the Australia Opals.
Note: Suns center Bol Bol and former Northern Arizona Suns guard Peter Jok were named to the Olympic Training Camp roster for South Sudan. However, South Sudan has yet to announce their final roster for the Olympics.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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