LeBron James skipping Team USA minicamp next week, sources say
LeBron James will not participate in USA Basketball's minicamp in Las Vegas next week, multiple sources familiar with James' plans told ESPN.
James, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was in Vegas over the weekend to watch his new team, the Los Angeles Lakers, play a summer league game, but he will not be present for the training camp, which is slated for July 25-27 at UNLV's Mendenhall Center.
It will be the first official USA Basketball gathering with Gregg Popovich as the head coach. James played for Larry Brown on the 2004 bronze medal team at the Athens Olympics, for which Popovich served as an assistant. James then won back-to-back golds, in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, under head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
James did not play on the 2016 USA Basketball team that won gold in Rio.
James was one of the 35 names included in the player pool that the USA Basketball men's national team released in April. From that pool, a 12-man roster will be selected for the 2019 World Cup in China and 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
James is expected to make his first public remarks about his decision to join the Lakers on July 30, when he presides over the grand opening of the I PROMISE School in Akron, Ohio, a public school created in partnership with his charity, the LeBron James Family Foundation.
