LeBron James, OKC’s big three geared up for the Olympics despite a tough NBA season
The U.S Olympic team for the 2012 London Olympics has four players who just played in the NBA Finals a little over two weeks ago.
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and LeBron James were all part of the NBA Finals which finished on June 22nd when Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to capture the NBA crown. And less than two weeks later, all four players were in Las Vegas to participate in the training camp for the Olympic team.
U.S Basketball President Jerry Colangelo named all four as members of the final roster that will travel to London for the games, raising concern about the health and fitness of the stars, who had just finished playing in a gruelling NBA season.
But Colangelo said on Tuesday that none of the four players who competed in the NBA Finals have shown any signs of fatigue, and are participating in the training sessions with the same level of effort, energy and dedication as the other players.
“Durant and Westbrook and Harden, they could play all day, eight hours a day, because they are young. We’re watching LeBron carefully, but he doesn’t appear he’s labouring at all and he’s picking his spots,” said Colangelo, who is in Las Vegas with the team.
Two other players who were part of the NBA Finals and made it to the Olympic team preliminary roster, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, decided to opt out of the Olympic squad to heal injuries suffered during the season.
Wade recently underwent surgery on his left knee to repair consistent swelling on the knee while Bosh also decided to rest and prepare for the next season. Their teammate, LeBron James, shows no sign of fatigue as he trains with the team.
“(LeBron) knew we were not going to push him at all. We were going to give the players that went deep into the playoffs the time they needed. We won’t look at this week as being our camp — it’s a four-week camp. And as long as we are ready for London we’re good,” added Colangelo.
All four players will get a chance to show their form when the U.S team plays an exhibition game against the Dominican Republic on the 12th of July in Las Vegas.
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