Kevin Love will not suit up for Team USA during the upcoming Summer Olympics. In a piece of news originally reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Love, who has been with the team during its pre-Olympic training camp in Las Vegas, made the decision to step away before the Americans made their way to Tokyo.
After spending 10 days in Las Vegas preparing for the Olympics, Cleveland’s Kevin Love is withdrawing from Team USA and won’t travel to Tokyo, sources tell ESPN. Love is still returning to full form from a right calf injury that kept him out a significant part of the NBA season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 16, 2021
Love’s agent gave a statement to Wojnarowski from the player, who said that his ongoing recovery from a right calf injury is keeping him from being in a place where he can give it his all during the Olympics.
Agent Jeff Schwartz of @excelbasketball has confirmed news to ESPN and shared statement from Love: "I am incredibly disappointed to not be heading to Tokyo with Team USA, but you need to be at absolute peak performance to compete at the Olympic level and I am just not there yet." https://t.co/Ph6DfKZOIf
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 16, 2021
Love is the second player in as many days to leave the team, as Bradley Beal is out due to Team USA’s health and safety protocols. A further issue, at least in the short-term, is the team’s struggles with having a full roster. As Brian Windhorst of ESPN noted, between those two withdrawals, Jerami Grant being in health and safety protocols, and a trio of players participating in the NBA Finals, the squad has a starting five and a one-person bench.
With Jerami Grant in quarantine and Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday & Khris Middleton in Finals, Team USA currently has 6 players. https://t.co/UCTomSZxVV
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 16, 2021
The current list of available players: Bam Adebayo, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Zach LaVine, Damian Lillard, and Jayson Tatum. Whether the Americans try to find replacements from the Select Team — Saddiq Bey, Darius Garland, and Keldon Johnson have been with the team in recent days — or from elsewhere in its player pool remain to be seen, but with time ticking down until they head over to Tokyo and the NBA Finals going for at least another two games, these decisions will need to be made as soon as possible.
