USA Men’s Basketball Managing Director Says LeBron’s Time Has Passed in the Olympics

LeBron James has one of the most decorated resumes in all of sports history. He is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time with four League MVPs, four Finals MVPs, a record number of All-NBA honors, and numerous Finals appearances during his playing career. He also owns a pair of gold medals and a bronze as a part of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

However, those medals James has collected with the Team USA basketball program might be his last. The USA Basketball managing director, Jerry Colangelo stated this week on ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill, and Zubin Show that age will be the reason that he will not be selected to participate again.

LeBron’s opting out of the last two Olympic cycles and Colangelo’s decision means James’ last game for Team USA was in the gold medal game against Spain in the 2012 Olympics. That was LeBron’s second career Olympic gold, following the one he got in 2008 as a part of the “Redeem Team.”

In LeBron James’ international career, he has played 68 games for Team USA starting in 2004, when he rarely played. That team was beaten in the semifinals by Argentina and wound up with the bronze medal. He was originally among a pool of 57 players for the 2021 U.S. Men’s National Team but was not selected.

The newly named roster will be led by Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and a list of new players.