Report: Kyle Korver was upset over being cut from Team USA for World Cup

Kyle Korver was among Team USA’s final cuts for the 2014 World Cup, but he had nothing but good things to say publicly about the experience.

Korver, via Kris Willis of Peachtree Hoops:

It was great. Obviously, it was a great honor just to be invited to that, to be a part of that. It was a good learning experience. It got me playing good basketball earlier in the summer. I usually do a lot of shooting, but I don’t usually do a lot of 5-on-5 playing. I think that will help me out as far as preseason and training camp. Overall, it was a really good experience for me.

Even when asked specifically about getting cut, Korver remained positive:

It was a long experience to not make it at the end. But it was good. We’re having our second baby.

So, it was good to be able to come back home, just be with my wife.

So, there’s always a silver lining.

But in reality, Korver might have felt a little differently.

Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops:

Korver told me in April that he did not watch a single game of the competition last summer because he was so upset at being cut

Korver was not among the 34 players in Las Vegas this week for Team USA’s minicamp. I assume Korver – an initial member of the Team USA roster pool for 2014-16 – was invited. He’s recovering from ankle and elbow surgeries, though other players attended the camp without actually practicing. Unless he got an exemption (like Andre Iguodala), this all but certainly eliminates Korver from Olympic consideration.

Korver wasn’t the only player upset about being cut from the World Cup roster. Damian Lillard and John Wall also expressed their dismay. It’s especially tough for players so used to succeeding.

This is part of the reason Team USA will just pick 2016 Olympians rather than holding a tryout.