An early edition of the Team USA roster being officially announced Sunday has crept out, via ESPN. Here are the names:

Carmelo Anthony, Denver
Gilbert Arenas, Washington
Shane Battier, Memphis
Chauncey Billups, Detroit
Chris Bosh, Toronto
Bruce Bowen, San Antonio
Elton Brand, L.A. Clippers
Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers
Dwight Howard, Orlando
Josh Howard, Dallas
LeBron James, Cleveland
Antawn Jamison, Washington
Joe Johnson, Atlanta
Rashard Lewis, Seattle
Shawn Marion, Phoenix
Brad Miller, Sacramento
Chris Paul, NO/Okla. City
Paul Pierce, Boston
Michael Redd, Milwaukee
Luke Ridnour, Seattle
Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix
Dwyane Wade, Miami

Great to see Brad Miller, a guy who lobbied Bryan Colangelo heavily to make the roster. This is a preliminary try-out roster, apparently, and "training camp" is in July in Las Vegas.

It's a double-edged sword for Kings fans. Seeing Brad do the country proud and get some limelight he surely deserves is great. (And depending on the design, a Miller '52' USA jersey wouldn't be out of the question.)

But this guy hasn't exactly been a model of health during his career. He seems to find weird ways to get hurt – he sprained an ankle during an All-Star game, for God's sake. So an extra month of practice and dozen competitive games a year, probably coming off the bench cold, is frightening. I'm not going out like Steinbrenner and predicting one of these players will ruin a season by getting hurt in international competition, but I still wouldn't bet against it.

Meanwhile, Chris Webber and Allen Iverson are among those complaining about not being invited. I feel for Iverson – he's one of the best guards in the league, he was a model citizen in Athens and he really wants to do this. He certainly belongs there more than Luke Ridnour, despite the age discrepancy. And Antwan Jamison? What?

But Webb is way off in his criticisms, saying that players who haven't won a playoff series shouldn't be invited to play.

So, Webb would not invite LeBron, Carmelo, Bosh, Dwight Howard, Elton Brand or Chris Paul? Really, Chris? Look, I'm sorry you didn't make the squad. Nevermind that you're running around on one leg, you can't jump more than six inches, you've become one of the least efficient players in the league and you're the biggest defensive liability in the Atlantic Division. He's 33 years old today. (Happy birthday, Mayce.) The Olympics are in summer 2008. Chris will then be 35. Will he even be in the league at that point? And he thinks he should get the call to represent his country over tremendous young talents like LBJ, Melo, Bosh, Dwight and Elton? Are you kidding me?

I love Chris as much or more as the next Sacramentan. I pull for the guy; I wish him well when he's not facing the royal purple. But he is so far out in space on this one that it's indefensible. Completely indefensible.

(Oh, and as for the title of this post: It's unlikely Ridnour or college guys like J.J Redick or Adam Morrison will be on the World Championship team this summer. That makes B-52 the one whitey on the squad. Let the jokes begin.)