FanPost

Tickets for Team USA Basketball Game on July 16 in Washington, DC To Be Released To The General Public on Wednesday May 30


In late February, USA Basketball announced that Team USA will play Brazil in a men's and women's doubleheader on Monday, July 16 at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. Now that the renewal period for Wizards and Mystics season tickets is essentially complete, tickets will finally be released to the public on May 30.

The event starts at 5:30 PM with the women's team playing first. The men's team will play at around 8:00 PM assuming the women's game doesn't go into overtime, etc.

And now, a little FAQ:

1. Any hometown players for this game? DC is the nation's capital, but it doesn't have good teams!

If you're talking about the Wizards and Mystics, neither team will have a player on Team USA but there will be a representative from each pro hoops team at both games.

  • For the Wizards, center Nene will be representing his home country and gives one of the co-host teams a player on Team Brazil. He will likely make the final Olympic team and the front court for the Brazilians looks pretty solid with him, Cavs center Anderson Varejao, and Spurs forward Tiago Splitter.
  • In addition for the Wizards, franchise guard John Wall is on the Team USA Select Team, a group of young NBA players who will be the guinea pigs, I mean scout team against the Big Boys. This will be a great experience for him because it is a basketball environment where John is surrounded by the best of the best basketball players in the world and will be pushed to his limits. To make Nate happy, Warriors swingman Klay Thompson is also on this team.
  • For the Mystics, assistant Coach Jennifer Gillom is an assistant for the USA women's team.

If you're talking about players from the DC and Baltimore areas, for the men's team, Kevin Durant is from the DC area, and Carmelo Anthony is from Baltimore and I expect that at least KD will make the final team. For the women's team, Angel McCoughtry is from Baltimore. So we're represented, both natives and pro-teams wise.

2. Which team's court are they going to use? After all, the Wizards and Mystics share the Verizon Center and the Team USA women vs. China game was on the Storm's court.

I dunno, but I'm 75% sure that the Wizards court will be used, to show off the team's still new logos. There's also a lot more red in the red white and blue scheme on the court than the Mystics court which is outlined in navy.

The remaining 25% chance is if there is a completely new and customized court just for this game, which is a possibility. I don't realistically see the Mystics court being used for this game.

3. Will it be on TV?

That hasn't been announced yet to the best of my knowledge. I would think that the men's game goes on ESPN while the women's game gets on NBA TV, but this is me speculating. Sorry for speculating!

4. How can I buy tickets?

I listed the link above but it wasn't so obvious. But the sale starts next Wednesday on May 30 at 10 AM Eastern/7 AM Pacific and get the ticket site by clicking on this link!

5. How much are ticket prices?

Ticket prices range start at $75 a seat in the 400 level. In the 200 level, seats range from $110 to $249 a seat. In the 100 level seats outside the hockey rink, prices range from $150 to $255 a seat. VIP seats (inside the rink) range from $360 to $2,500 in the owner seats. Don't expect many VIP seats to be available because they are mostly taken by Wizards season ticket holders, and much of the remainder may be handed out/sold to dignitaries, and a special someone who lives a mile west.

These numbers are from the Washington Wizards season ticket holder site. Note that season ticket holder rates are also listed. These gate prices may fluctuate by the time they are released.

So in short, prices are very high, but at the same time, you are watching two games.

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That's the scoop for now on the Olympic send-off game.