As the clock continues to tick toward the start of the 2024 Olympics, USA Basketball head coach Steve Kerr has some big decisions to make when training camp begins Saturday, which could include bringing LeBron James off the bench.
According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, USA Basketball sources said that scenario seems unlikely to happen even though there is a plausible way to build a starting five without the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
Speaking to reporters about the starting lineup last week, Kerr said he and his staff have not made any final decisions at this point:
“It’s a great question, and my team and I have talked about it quite a bit. It’s a good problem to have, but I’m assuming all 12 players on this roster will be in the Hall of Fame someday. So how do you pick five of the 12? The idea is to find combinations that work and two-way lineups that can be effective on both ends.”
“So our big job in Vegas is to find five-man combinations that fit and just ask all 12 guys to fully commit to the goal of winning a gold medal no matter what it looks like, no matter who’s playing.”
Under normal circumstances, James would be a fixture in the starting lineup. USA Basketball’s 2024 roster is one of the most complete groups ever assembled, after Kerr confirmed last week that all 12 players, including Kawhi Leonard, were expected to be healthy for the start of training camp.
Vardon cited Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant as three players who are sure to be starters for Team USA.
The main players who could compete with James for one of the other two spots are Leonard and Anthony Davis.
Davis, in particular, could be in the starting lineup because of the defensive and rebounding issues Team USA had at the FIBA World Cup as a result of having a smaller roster. Their opponents had 19 more offensive rebounds (98 to 79) in eight games.
Germany held a 12-8 advantage in offensive rebounds in a 113-111 win over the United States in the semifinal.
Leonard remains a strong defensive player at this stage of his career, but he’s not at the same level he was when he won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Needless to say, it would be strange to see James not in the starting lineup of any team he plays for. The 20-time All-Star has only come off the bench twice in 1,492 career NBA Games.
This year, James will be making his first appearance at the Olympics since 2012. He has won two gold medals and one bronze medal with Team USA during his storied career. The Paris Games will likely be James’ last appearance with USA Basketball.
James has played a total of 68 games for the U.S. since 2004. He has averaged 14.4 points on 60.1 percent shooting, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game in international competition.
The U.S. will open its training camp in Las Vegas on Saturday. Its first game at the Olympics will be against Serbia on July 28 at 11:15 a.m. ET.
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