When the Los Angeles Lakers shut down LeBron James for the remainder of the 2018-19 regular season, it was with the idea that he would take the summer to heal up and come into the 2019-20 year focused on returning the franchise to the postseason.
While James will certainly be hooping during the summer months to stay in game shape, where he won't be hooping up is with Team USA during the FIBA Basketball World Cup, as he noted when asked by Joe Vardon of The Athletic. He acknowledged that while he is a fan of San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich — who will be at the helm for the squad — he is pulling his name out of the running:
“I love everything about Pop, obviously, but this is not a good summer for me.”
It's not just the recovery from injury that makes it a difficult time crunch for James, but filming is also expected to begin on his new movie, “Space Jam 2.”
But just because he's withdrawing from consideration for the World Cup doesn't mean that James has closed the door on suiting up for Team USA during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo:
“Yeah, that’s a possibility. It depends on how I feel. I love the Olympics.”
A lot can happen between April 2019 and June 2020, so it's not surprising that James wouldn't be ready to commit at such an early stage. No matter who takes the floor for Team USA during the World Cup or Olympics, they'll likely remain the hefty favorite.
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