Butler to focus on next season, bypasses Olympics
Jimmy Butler has opted for rest, recovery and prep time during the Tokyo Olympics.
The Miami Heat star has decided to decline an invitation from Team USA to participate in the Olympics this summer, a source confirmed to the Miami Herald. Butler, who helped Team USA win gold in Brazil in the 2016 Olympics, was part of the initial list of players considered for Tokyo.
Heat center Bam Adebayo and forward Duncan Robinson are also on the list from which the 2021 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team will be chosen.
Adebayo is still considering the possibility of participating in the Olympics, according to a source, and Robinson said at the end of this past season that “if I had the opportunity to represent my country, that would be something really difficult to pass up,” but his impending free agency could complicate matters.
The list of Heat players who have played for Team USA in past Olympics includes Tim Hardaway, LeBron James, Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane
Wade.
Golden State’s Draymond Green and Stephen Curry, Portland’s Damian Lillard and Boston’s Jayson Tatum are reportedly strong candidates to accept invitations to be part of Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics.
The expectation is the roster will be set by the end of June.
Team USA will open its men’s training camp, led by coach Gregg Popovich, in Las Vegas on July 6. Camp will include a fivegame exhibition schedule that begins with a matchup against Nigeria on
July 10.
Team USA opens the Olympics with group play on July 25 against France, and the competition will run through Aug. 7. For the preliminary round, Team USA is part of
Group A alongside France, Iran and the still-to-bedetermined winner of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria, Canada.
Along with the United States, Argentina, Australia, France, Iran, Japan, Nigeria and Spain have already qualified for the Olympics.
Four other teams will be added to the field through qualifying tournaments in the coming weeks.
The U.S. men’s basketball team is seeking a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal and enters the competition ranked No. 1 by FIBA.
Butler, who turns 32 in
September, just completed, arguably, the best regular season of his NBA career, averaging 21.5 points on a career-best 49.7 percent shooting and career highs in rebounds (6.9), assists (7.1) and steals (2.1).
He averaged a teamhigh in points, assists and minutes, while finishing as the NBA’s steals leader.
Bypassing the Olympics allows Butler to prioritize rest and his offseason regimen in preparation for the start of next season, with training camps scheduled to open
Sept. 28.