Atlanta Duke
04-03-2007, 09:39 PM
After purportedly having one of his less cohesive Duke teams this past year, apparently K can now look forward to potential diva behavior from LeBron James if this linked article is credible.
If LeBron James wants to assure himself of a trip to the Beijing Olympics, he'd better show up for more than a cameo in Las Vegas this summer.
In a blunt retort to James' statement that he is only "50-50" on playing for the United States at the Tournament of the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament, Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo told ESPN.com that James could be jeopardizing his status as one of the five or six core players for the Beijing Olympics....
James gave his "50-50" prognosis last month, saying: "Right now, I'm 50-50. My girlfriend is expecting another [baby] in June. Health is always an issue. You have to re-evaluate things, go through the season, go through the playoffs and then look at it afterward."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2824500
My bet is Nike & Friends will have a sit down with LeBron, as indicated by this further observation in the story:
Jeopardizing his spot on the Beijing roster would be a huge risk for James, who has been studying Mandarin as he seeks to become even more of a marketing and pop icon in China. There's are financial implications, too, for James, who would lose more than $250,000 in endorsement bonuses from Nike, Coca-Cola and Upper Deck if he failed to make the 2008 Beijing roster.
Not exactly the best of basketball times for K as the pressures relating to bringing back the gold in 2008 will continue to increase.
If LeBron James wants to assure himself of a trip to the Beijing Olympics, he'd better show up for more than a cameo in Las Vegas this summer.
In a blunt retort to James' statement that he is only "50-50" on playing for the United States at the Tournament of the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament, Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo told ESPN.com that James could be jeopardizing his status as one of the five or six core players for the Beijing Olympics....
James gave his "50-50" prognosis last month, saying: "Right now, I'm 50-50. My girlfriend is expecting another [baby] in June. Health is always an issue. You have to re-evaluate things, go through the season, go through the playoffs and then look at it afterward."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2824500
My bet is Nike & Friends will have a sit down with LeBron, as indicated by this further observation in the story:
Jeopardizing his spot on the Beijing roster would be a huge risk for James, who has been studying Mandarin as he seeks to become even more of a marketing and pop icon in China. There's are financial implications, too, for James, who would lose more than $250,000 in endorsement bonuses from Nike, Coca-Cola and Upper Deck if he failed to make the 2008 Beijing roster.
Not exactly the best of basketball times for K as the pressures relating to bringing back the gold in 2008 will continue to increase.