LeBron James Won’t Compete At Rio Olympics With Team USA
LeBron James is fresh off of a NBA Championship run with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he will not compete for gold at the Rio Olympics.
LeBron James will not be competing for Team USA in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, according to Cleveland.com‘s Joe Vardon. If James decided to compete with Team USA, it would be his fourth consecutive Olympics appearance. He has won gold twice (2008, 2012) and won bronze in his first Olympic experience in 2004.
James has appeared in six straight NBA Finals and has won three of them, but none more important than delivering one to Cleveland. The championship was Cleveland’s first major sports championship since the 1964 Cleveland Browns won the NFL Championship, before the Super Bowl existed.
The Cavs celebrated the cities first championship in 52 years with a parade that drew 1.3 million people to the downtown area. Perhaps hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy and the NBA Finals MVP Award around for the past five days has been too much for James.
James, 31, logged a total of 3,531 minutes during the regular season and postseason combined. That is a lot of mileage and is a big reason as to why he will sit out the Olympics.
“I could use the rest,” James told Cleveland.com on his decision to forego the Olympics.
James will certainly be missed. He is Team USA’s leading Olympic scorer with 273 points and is second-leading rebounder with 95. There are only two triple-doubles in Olympic history and James has one of them.
James is one of many NBA players that will not play in the Olympics this summer. Stars like Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, Houston Rockets guard James Harden, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and San Antonio Spurs forwards LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard will not play for Team USA for various different reasons, according to SB Nation.
This allows a new wave of players to lead Team USA. Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are all notables ready to step into the spotlight and lead Team USA to Olympic gold.
Kyrie Irving is a lock to play for Team USA if he wants, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein. Irving played his college ball at Duke, where Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski coached. The two reuniting could make for a new star in Olympic basketball.
Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson are huge Coach K favorites and locks for Rio if available but both are still "deliberating" after The Finals
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 23, 2016
Irving, 24, aided the Cavs offensively during their NBA Finals run. He had four straight games of 30-plus points, including a 41-point performance in Game 5 at Oracle Arena with the Cavs trailing the Warriors 3-1.
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Throughout the playoffs Irving was a shot maker. He scored 25.2 points per game with a shooting line of .475/.440/.875 in 21 playoff games. He was entrusted as a ball handler with a 30.4 usage rate and did a good job taking care of the basketball with a 23.5 assist rate and a 9.4 turnover rate. Excelling against Curry and Thompson proves that Irving is ready to carry the load for Team USA if he is entrusted.
Looking ahead to the 2016-17 NBA season, it’s best if James sits out of the Olympics. While the competition isn’t as great as the NBA, the mental aspects of the game could wear on James.
He has played a total of 46,861 minutes in his 13-year NBA career. That includes both the regular season and the playoffs. Being invested in delivering a championship and dominating his way through the Eastern Conference and overcoming a tough battle in the NBA Finals, James deserves some time off with his family and friends.
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Meanwhile Irving is still an improving guard and could benefit from the honor of playing with Team USA. He will also have an opportunity to play around some of the NBA’s elite talent and learn from some different voices and talents around the league.