LeBron James decided to practice with USA Basketball in Las Vegas on Wednesday, confirming the ongoing longevity of his commitment to the national program. Chairman Jerry Colangelo made an exception to his minicamp edict for the 31-year-old, who originally planned on watching today’s proceedings from the sidelines as opposed to participating.
Love of Team USA and the itch of competition clearly got the best of James, though, who reportedly bullied assistant coach Monty Williams on the block despite the “no-contact” rules of practice.
As expected, LeBron James is here today, absolutely abusing Thunder assistant Monty Williams in low-post drills (also expected).
— Ken Berger (@KBergNBA) August 12, 2015
Clearly, the two-time gold medalist is sharpening his skills in hopes of winning a third next summer, right? Not so fast. While James is certainly open to playing in Rio de Janeiro, a final decision on the matter hasn’t been made – and won’t even be his alone.
“All my decisions go through my family. We’ll see how my family feels about playing,” he told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “And then with my health, going another NBA campaign season, as far as my team back home in Cleveland, and I’ll go from there.”
But James’ wife and three young children won’t be the only ones influencing his choice whether or not to play a year from now. With Team USA veterans Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony also on the fence about appearing in Rio, LeBron says the fates of his two close friends will also play a role in his.
“It’ll probably be a joint decision,” he said. “Pretty much everything that we do, for the most part, especially with Team USA, we kind of do together. We’ll see what happens.”
James and Anthony made their first Olympic appearances in 2004, when the Americans finished with a disappointing bronze medal. Paul joined them on the famed “Redeem Team” four years later, and the superstar triumvirate has emerged as USA Basketball’s eldest pulse since the international retirement of Kobe Bryant following the 2012 Games.
Considering James’ choice could come down to the presence of Paul and Anthony, it bears wondering if he’ll be comfortable with only one of the two playing in Rio. Paul isn’t quite the ironclad lock for 2016 that James is, but remains arguably the best point guard in the world. His sustained excellence combined with a stellar Team USA track record make his selection an easy one for Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski.
Anthony’s potential one, however? That should be a much tougher call for the USAB braintrust.
Health is of the first concern for the New York Knicks star. He’s participating in practice this week following late February surgery on a troublesome left knee, but still faces a long road to full recovery. And even if Anthony is healthy in 2015-2016, there’s no guarantee his performance will merit the automatic roster spot it once did. After all, he certainly wasn’t lighting the league on fire last season before suffering the injury initially.
Despite those realities and a wealth of talented forwards on the full national team roster, Anthony will likely make the team barring an unfortunate and drastic turn of events. Colangelo has stressed the importance of continuity and dedication since taking the reins of USAB, and Anthony has been one of his most loyal and effective players. The national program, thankfully, isn’t just about individual talent anymore; other factors come into play during the selection process.
James, though, apparently has a very unique one of his own. And if the four-time MVP gets his family’s seal of approval and a clean bill of health from doctors, it will be fascinating to see if the possible exclusion of Anthony looms as large of a factor as he’s indirectly suggesting.
[Via Ken Berger, via ESPN]
