After Team USA’s failure to medal at the FIBA World Cup with a team full of younger players, discussion immediately turned to which stars would potentially suit up for America at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James immediately reportedly expressed interest and teammate Anthony Davis was mentioned as a potential member as well amidst a number of other top stars.
With training camps getting going around the league, the subject has been brought up to many players with both Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant and Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry both committing to Team USA already. Whether the Lakers’ superstar duo will join as well remains to be seen, however.
LeBron spoke on the likelihood of it and remains interested in joining Team USA but wants to see how his body feels at the end of the season first.
“I do. I do have an interest, so we’ll see what happens,” LeBron said at Lakers Media Day. “But as far as the physical toll, I don’t know. I’ll see how I feel at the end of the season.
“But from the players that we have here I can think of off the top of my head that could fill that roster up, I don’t think it would be too much of a physical toll. I wouldn’t have to do much. I mean, rebound a little bit, pass a little bit, defend, block some shots. But we’ll see. We’ll see what happens.”
Coming off of what would be his 21st NBA season, it makes sense that LeBron prefers to wait until fully committing as he may need that time off after a long season. But he is also correct in that, with the talent that could be assembled on Team USA, he could definitely take more of a backseat role.
As far as Davis is concerned, he is simply waiting on the invite from Team USA, as he told Spectrum SportsNet:
“If they ask me, I’m in. Just waiting on the ask. I mean, I only did it once, really. And I didn’t really — LeBron, Kobe, [Chris Paul], Melo — I was sitting on the bench. So, if they ask, I’m definitely in.”
The biggest issue with Team USA during the FIBA World Cup was its lack of size. Big, physical teams dominated the Americans inside and on the glass and the addition of Davis would help to fix that issue immediately. All things considered, Team USA is shaping up to be dominant next summer.
LeBron James calls Anthony Davis the face of the Lakers
While that could be their future, for the time being, James and Davis are focused solely on the upcoming Lakers season and bringing the team another championship. Many have been looking for Davis to take over as the true leader of the team, but LeBron believes he is already the face of the franchise.
James called Davis the face of the Lakers in a recent interview, adding that he feels the big man’s name is deserving of being named with the rest of the Lakers greats whose jerseys hang in the rafters.
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