According to a report via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, two-time Olympic gold medallist LeBron James, may have played his last game for Team USA.
James, 28, will not play for USA Basketball during the 2013 world championships in Spain and is doubtful to participate in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, a source close to the Miami Heat forward told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday. USA Basketball executive director Jerry Colangelo also confirmed to Yahoo! Sports he doesn’t expect James to play next summer – and doesn’t plan to ask him.
Age and family commitments appear to be the main factors that will deter the Miami Heat forward from donning the red, white and blue in the future.
“LeBron is going to be three years older during the next Olympics. He will have two older boys. He has a lot to endure with his family,” the source told Y! Sports. “He played in three Olympics. Everyone that knows LeBron knows it’s always based on a decision at that moment. But if the moment was today, the answer would be no.”
“The only way I could see him playing in the Olympics is if his country really, really needed him to play,” the source said. “But hasn’t he done enough?”
According to the report, another telling sign that James’ time with Team USA may be over, is the recent announcement by Colangelo, that Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant, will be the face of the program moving forward.
USA Basketball has enough talent to maintain their stranglehold on international basketball going forward, but if LeBron has indeed played his last game for his country, there’s no doubt that he’ll be missed.