Sports briefly: LeBron, Carmelo could make their fourth Olympics

LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are a step closer to a fourth Olympics, and Stephen Curry is in position for his first.

The NBA stars were among 30 players selected Monday as finalists for the U.S. basketball team that will attempt in Rio de Janeiro to win a third straight gold medal.

The final 12-player roster will be chosen this summer. If James and Anthony are on it they would become the first American men to play in four Olympics.

The other candidates for Rio are: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City); Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan (Clippers); Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio); Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes (Golden State); Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love (Cleveland); Dwight Howard and James Harden (Houston); Anthony Davis (New Orleans); Paul George (Indiana); DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay (Sacramento); John Wall and Bradley Beal (Washington); Jimmy Butler (Chicago); Mike Conley (Memphis); DeMar DeRozan (Toronto); Andre Drummond (Detroit); Kenneth Faried (Denver) and Gordon Hayward (Utah).

"The depth of talent that exists in the national team program is extraordinary. Repeating as gold medalists at the 2016 Olympics will not be easy, but we feel confident that we have 30 finalists who offer amazing basketball abilities and special versatility," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said.

Kobe Bryant, who is retiring after this season, took himself out of the running for a third Olympics this weekend.

James and Anthony already have joined Hall of Famer David Robinson as the only U.S. men to play in three Olympics, winning bronze in 2004 before leading the U.S. to gold in Beijing and London. Paul could join that list this summer.

Gulch, a sprint champion in the late 1980s and sire of 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Thunder Gulch, has died at 32.

The horse died Sunday at Old Friends farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. Michael Blowen, president of Old Friends, says the cause was complications from cancer.

Gulch won the 1988 Breeders' Cup Sprint and earned the Eclipse Award for top sprinter. Gulch won 13 of 32 starts and earned more than $3 million. Among his wins were the Hopeful Stakes as a 2-year-old, the Wood Memorial as a 3-year-old and the Metropolitan Mile two years in a row.

Johnny Bach, whose defensive expertise as an assistant coach helped the Bulls win three NBA titles from 1991 to 1993, has died. He was 91. Bach was the head coach of the Golden State Warriors from 1983-86 before joining the Bulls as an assistant. He also worked as an assistant for Charlotte, Detroit and Washington. He returned to the Bulls in 2003 and retired in 2006 after more than a half-century in coaching. Bach was the coach at Fordham from 1950-68 and at Penn State from 1968-77.

The Detroit Tigers agreed to terms with free-agent outfielder Justin Upton on a six-year, $132.75 million contract Monday night, a person directly involved with the negotiations told USA Today.

• The Royals made it official, announcing the signing of outfielder Lorenzo Cain to a two-year contract, avoiding arbitration. The contract is worth $17.5 million with Cain earning $6.5 million in 2016 and $11 million in 2017. He will be eligible for free agency after the 2017 season.

• A Seoul court fined newly-signed Cardinals reliever Seung Hwan Oh 10 million won ($8,300) for breaking South Korean gambling laws by betting heavily at a Macau casino. Former Cubs pitcher Lim Chang-yong, Oh's ex-teammate with South Korean club Samsung Lions, was also fined the same amount. The Korean Baseball Organization earlier hit both players with half-season bans after prosecutors charged them for betting around 40 million won ($33,000) each at a casino in Macau in 2014.