“Father Time takes its toll,” said former coach and former American basketball director Jerry Colangelo to signify that at 36 years of age, the star LeBron James will hardly consider being part of the Olympic team again.
“I think his moment is over,” he said in an interview with ESPN, recalling the “appreciated” contribution he made to the US team at the London Games in 2012, the last of the three Olympic appearances he had.
James began his cycle at Atentas 2004, which ended with a disappointing bronze medal. In Beijing 2008 and London the gold was hung. In total he played 68 games.
This year for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the United States team only has two players who were in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro, forward Kevin Durant (Brooklyn) and power forward Draymond Green (Golden State).
The inclusion of Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love, a former teammate of James, has drawn the most scrutiny and controversy as well.
Colangelo defended the addition of Love to the roster, arguing that the team needed another great man to have more options at the positions of number four and five.
‘Most of the prominent tall men in the NBA are international players. They are not Americans. We have not developed great players as they have done in other countries, ‘said Colangelo.
