Amongst the reported names who were joining Team USA or declining an offer, one of the more interesting names not on either list was Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love.
Now, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Love received an invite to join Team USA at the 2016 Olympics. Love, however, will rest after the Cavaliers’ run to NBA Championship.
The Cavs' Kevin Love received an Olympic team invite, league sources say, but opted to decline for rest after Cleveland's long playoff run.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 26, 2016
The last time Love played for Team USA was at the 2012 Olympics in London where the Americans won the gold medal and also formed a bond with LeBron James. In 2014, he declined an offer to play on Team USA’s FIBA World Championship team as he was being shopped around by the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was that summer that Love was traded to the Cavs and at the world championships, Team USA won gold and Kyrie Irving was named tournament MVP.
Love not playing is a loss for the Americans. For all of the criticism he’s faced - some fair, some not - he’s still a star player. As constructed, Team USA probably would benefit from having another star on the roster and another scoring punch. Plus, lineups with Love at the five would be hard for most of the other teams in the world to handle. Even so, Team USA is and should be the favorites to win gold without Love on the roster.
For the Cavs, though, this is a good thing as they look ahead towards next season. Two of their big three are resting this summer ahead of their title defense with only a few players on international duty. Irving will play for Team USA and Matthew Dellavedova is expected to play for the Australian National Team. If Canada ultimately qualifies, Tristan Thompson could be on the roster, but that hasn’t been confirmed one way or another yet.