LAS VEGAS — Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris were the starting guards for the Nuggets last season, yet both are participating in the Las Vegas summer league to spend more time together.

There is another reason. Mudiay and Harris are part of a 25-player group picked for the U.S. men’s select team that will train July 18-21 in Las Vegas. The team will practice with the national team as it gets ready for the Rio Olympics, which start Aug. 5.

Mudiay and Harris played Friday night, when the Nuggets beat Minnesota in their summer league opener, but sat out Denver’s 106-62 rout of Memphis on Saturday. Mudiay and Harris sat side by side Saturday, shouting words of encouragement after an early Petr Cornelie block and gave occasional instructions to their rookie teammates.

“When they told me Gary was going to play (in Las Vegas) too, it gave me a little sense of confidence,” Mudiay said. “Just the fact that I was with somebody that I went through the whole season with, we were there for each other through the ups and downs, so we knew we’d have each other’s back.”

The guards are friends off the court, texting back and forth at least three times a week. They look forward to going through the U.S. camp.

Leaning up against a wall inside UNLV’s Cox Pavilion and glancing in Harris’ direction, Mudiay said most people don’t know how seriously his backcourt partner takes his game.

“He really just wants to improve and be one of the guys that people talk about in this league as well,” Mudiay said of Harris, a former Michigan State star. “He doesn’t want to be one of those people that just came and went. He wants to leave his mark.”

Harris held up an intertwined index and middle finger to describe just how tight he is with Mudiay.

“That’s my guy,” Harris said of the No. 7 pick in the NBA draft last summer. “Just from playing this game we’ve not only been able to build a relationship on the court but off it as well. We talk. We text. We’re always in communication with each other. And even though we are not in season right now, we stay in touch.”

The U.S. camp will be a stepping stone for Harris and Mudiay, who want to play in the Olympics someday. As young players with something to prove, both said there isn’t just one member of the national team they are excited to play against. Instead, they want to get a crack at everyone.

“They’re there because they put in the work. They had to go through what me and Gary had to go through now,” Mudiay said. “It should definitely be a fun experience.”