Cleveland and NBA star LeBron James not in USA basketball team for 2016 Rio Olympics
By Mark Ashenden
Last Updated: 27/06/16 3:45pm
Basketball fans will not have the chance to watch NBA star LeBron James perform at the Rio Olympics this summer.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star, part of their NBA championship-winning side, revealed recently that he would not be joining the team in Brazil after a long season.
And on Monday, the news was confirmed with USA Basketball unveiling their 12-man squad for the Games without the 31-year-old.
The team will be led by Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, the only players with Olympic experience, as they attempt to secure glory on the Games stage for the Americans for the third successive time.
Also chosen in the squad: Golden State's Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes; Toronto's Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan; Cleveland's Kyrie Irving; Indiana's Paul George; Chicago's Jimmy Butler; Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins and the Clippers' DeAndre Jordan.
Irving was the MVP of the 2014 Basketball World Cup on a US team that included Thompson, Cousins and DeRozan and easily won gold.
James was part of successful US basketball teams in Beijing eight summers ago and at London 2012. He also won a bronze in 2004 in Athens.
"I could use the rest," James told cleveland.com on June 24.
The Americans should roll into Rio as the favourites, yet they may struggle to dominate as some may expect with Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and James Harden also withdrawing their services.
