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LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Zion Williamson, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard make up just the prominent names in a fairly lengthy list of players from the States who have opted out of the upcoming FIBA attraction. The most recent shock withdrawal came from De'Aaron Fox - who was being considered a pivotal element of the almost-built USA roster.
The reasons for such an anomaly are multi-dimensional. Change in FIBA's schedule meant that their World Cup would take place in 2019, which is just one year before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. To any player who'd be willing to participate in both, it would mean risking two NBA seasons in a row. After all, when viewed from a hardcore NBA perspective, the FIBA World Cup appears as nothing more than a glorified exhibition tournament.
Despite housing major talents like Kemba Walker, Kyle Kuzma, Donovan Mitchell, the current lineup is still far removed from the best that the NBA could offer. However, the Popovich-led squad might not look like the ultra-confident world-dominant USA team, but they remain front-runners to lift the trophy.
Let's take a look at a few possible explanations as to why players are reluctant to commit.
#1 Injuries could have an everlasting effect on their NBA future
During the lead-up to the last World Cup, Paul George ran back on defense and ended up landing awkwardly against the stanchion, leading to a compound leg fracture. Eventually, the scrimmage cost him the entire season and is still one of the most gruesome injuries ever to happen to any NBA player.
He did recover fully to become an MVP-caliber talent but what happened to George was a clear example of the repercussions that come with risking your body by playing additional games.
It is heartbreaking when a player misses time due to an injury during a season and it gets far more painful when the same happens due to an unfortunate mishap in a non-NBA event. No player would ever want to become even remotely susceptible to that situation.
#2 A huge section of the league turned upside down by free agency
The bigger picture will forever be that the Team USA has always been at the mercy of 30 NBA franchises more or less. All the organisations want their players fit and ready to play at the highest level come the NBA season. To put things into perspective, roughly 25% of the players in the league changed teams over the last few months, courtesy of the tectonic shift brought forth by the offseason.
Majority of players who have dropped out of the squad would likely want to acclimatize to the new weather and concentrate on everything that comes with joining a new team. Davis became the latest addition to the new-look Lakers, Harden has the task of figuring out Westbrook (and vice versa) while the Pelicans would never shell out their prized possession in Zion for anything but the NBA.
One glaring exception comes in the form of Kemba Walker, but that too is explained by the fact that he gets a golden opportunity to build some much-needed chemistry with his new teammates Tatum, Brown and Smart - who are also members of the Team USA roster.
#3 The ever-elusive fear of being the part of an embarrassing campaign
Legendary Coach Mike Krzyzewski retired as head coach after winning gold at the 2016 Olympics and who was more deserving to replace him than Pop? Only Harrison Barnes remains on the roster from the 2016 team
One of the interesting takes on the current status quo of Team USA was brought forward by Trail Blazers' guard CJ McCollum,
“I think other guys looked at it like, ‘Why would I want to go potentially be the face of what could be a losing roster?’” McCollum told Adrian Wojnarowski on his podcast.
It is a palpable possibility that the undermanned and vulnerable squad just might fall short. It has happened in the past: the USA failed to make the final in both 2002 and 2006. Moreover, they do not have megastars like LeBron and Durant who could turn the game on its head, which makes it certain that the upcoming World Cup won't be the usual walk-in-the-park outing.
