Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love is withdrawing from Team USA and will not travel to Tokyo for the Olympics, his agent, Jeff Schwartz, told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.
Love spent 10 days with Team USA in Las Vegas preparing for the Games but is still returning to full form from a right calf injury that kept him out of a significant part of the NBA season.
"I am incredibly disappointed to not be heading to Tokyo with Team USA," Love said in a statement released by Schwartz, "but you need to be at absolute peak performance to compete at the Olympic level and I am just not there yet."
Team USA will now work to replace two players prior to its Olympic opener July 25. Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal was forced to drop out of the Olympics after entering the health and safety protocol earlier this week.
There is significant support for San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson to be added to the 12-man roster, sources told Wojnarowski. Johnson has been playing with the Olympic team as a member of the USA Select team and has developed into a favorite of decision-makers and staff.
One player in the NBA Finals who could be considered is Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks, a source told The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears.
USA Basketball also announced late Thursday night that the men's basketball exhibition game against Australia scheduled for Friday night in Las Vegas had been canceled "out of an abundance of caution." Team USA's final exhibition game is scheduled for Sunday against Spain, with a charter flight to Japan set for Monday.
Love would have been trying for a second Olympic gold medal, having played for the Americans in London in 2012. He also was on the team that won gold in the 2010 world championship.
That past USA Basketball experience helped him get selected for this roster despite his difficult NBA season. Love missed 46 games because of the injury and averaged 12.2 points in 25 games.
He had played in two of the Americans' three exhibition games in Las Vegas, scoring one point.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read Again Brow https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmVzcG4uY29tL29seW1waWNzL3N0b3J5L18vaWQvMzE4Mjc5MTIvY2xldmVsYW5kLWNhdmFsaWVycy1rZXZpbi1sb3ZlLXdpdGhkcmF3aW5nLXRlYW0tdXNhLXRva3lvLW9seW1waWNz0gGBAWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmVzcG4uY29tL29seW1waWNzL3N0b3J5L18vaWQvMzE4Mjc5MTIvY2xldmVsYW5kLWNhdmFsaWVycy1rZXZpbi1sb3ZlLXdpdGhkcmF3aW5nLXRlYW0tdXNhLXRva3lvLW9seW1waWNzP3BsYXRmb3JtPWFtcA?oc=5Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Cleveland Cavaliers' Kevin Love withdrawing from Team USA for Tokyo Olympics - ESPN"
Post a Comment