Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, the NBA's Most Valuable Player and its leading scorer, headed the 12-man US Olympic basketball team named yesterday for the Beijing Olympics.

Premier point guard Chris Paul was also included in the squad, which the US Olympic Committee hopes will reverse a trend of disappointing results for American teams in recent international competitions.

The team features six guards and five forwards with Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic the only regular centre named in the team.

Besides Bryant and Paul, the other guards are Jason Kidd (Dallas), Michael Redd (Milwaukee), Dwyane Wade (Miami) and Deron Williams (Utah).

Carmelo Anthony (Denver), Carlos Boozer (Utah), Chris Bosh (Toronto) and Tayshaun Prince (Detroit) join James in the forwards.

US teams have struggled overseas in recent years after decades of international dominance.

The United States finished with a disappointing bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens behind gold-medal winning Argentina, and also finished third at the world championship in Japan in 2006.

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