Utah Jazz: Williams, Boozer join Team USA

For the Utah Jazz, a winning hand for its USA Basketball involvement in the 2008 Beijing Olympics is a pair of sevens.

The Jazz duo of point guard Deron Williams and power forward Carlos Boozer — both of whom wore the USA jersey No. 7 the last time they played internationally — were among the 12 NBA players named Monday to represent the United States at the upcoming Summer Games.

Joining them are Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets, Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks, Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons, Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.

The Jazz is the only NBA team with multiple Olympic team members, and the Utah franchise spotlighted the twosome at a Monday afternoon news conference — Williams attending in person, but Boozer unsuccessful in joining in by teleconference from Miami.

"Having the chance to represent your country and to play at the highest level possible — you can't even begin to imagine what it's going to be like. ... Definitely, I'd put winning a gold medal up there with winning an NBA championship — it's just that special," said Williams, who along with Boozer learned of their selections more than a week ago.

"We were texting back and forth, saying 'congrats' and how we were looking forward to getting to compete with each other again and just having a chance to win a gold medal," said Williams, who will be making his Olympics debut. Boozer is a repeat invitee after playing in the 2004 Athens Games.

"Together it's going to be another special stepping stone for us to go through together, and it will make us just stronger for the upcoming season," Williams added. "We know we're going to get better playing against and playing with the type of players we'll be with this summer."

The double invite drew the inevitable comparisons — once again — of the two former Jazz superstars Karl Malone and John Stockton, who teamed up twice for the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. The Jazz underscored the comparisons at Monday's gathering, coupling framed USA Basketball posters of the two point guards on one side of the podium and the two power forwards on the other.