When the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo roll around, LeBron James will be 36 years old. That’s just about legally dead in the sports world. LeBron skipped the Rio Olympics last year, so the two-time gold-medal winner has already shown a willingness to pass on the Olympics to save his body for the NBA grind.
But maybe, LeBron will reconsider now that Gregg Popovich will coach Team USA.
“It factors a lot,” James said to Cleveland.com. “I’ve said that before. He’s just a great mastermind of the game of basketball.”
One reason for LeBron skipping Rio — he had been to six straight NBA Finals and needed a break. It’s hard to project where he and the Cavaliers (or whichever team he’s playing for in 2019-20) will be over the next four years, but the odds are the best player in the sport will be making deep playoff runs. And he will have another four years of mileage on the body. Will playing for Popovich be worth it?
Probably. Think of it like this — even if LeBron isn’t what he is now, he will still be one of the best players in the world. A diminished LeBron will know 2020 is his last chance to play for Team USA, and since he’s a real basketball nerd that appreciates history and Popovich’s standing in it, he will go there no matter how broken down he is. Even if it’s to play in a diminished role, LeBron won’t pass up the chance to play for Popovich.
