USA Team fans shouldn’t expect to see Lebron James dressed in red, white and blue again, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo told ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin on Wednesday.
“You know, Father Time takes its toll,” Colangelo said of the 36-year-old star. “If you are a human being, your body is made to last that long depending on your sport, and then it is a downhill situation. LeBron made the decision not to participate in these last Olympics because he has a lot of things going on in his life. So he put in his time, he made a contribution that is appreciated, but I think his time is up. “
James has opted out of the last two Olympic cycles, though he told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols in 2016 that “Every time I see them, I wish I was there,” while Team USA won gold in Rio de Janeiro. .
James has 68 games and three Olympics of international experience with the USA Team. He joined USA Basketball for the 2004 Athens Games, where the Americans lost their first game to Puerto Rico, lost two more games and settled for bronze. He returned in 2008 and won gold in Beijing, then took another gold medal four years later in London.
The USA Team for the Tokyo Games has only two players from 2016, Kevin Durant Y Draymond green, while the inclusion of the Cleveland Cavaliers wing, Kevin love, a former teammate of James, has drawn the most scrutiny.
But Colangelo defended Love’s addition to the roster, saying the USA Team needed another great man.
“Most of the greats in the NBA are international players. They are not American players. We haven’t developed great players like they have in other countries,” Colangelo told Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin, adding that having the extra Love could look like “insurance”.