LeBron James unlikely to come off the bench during Olympics, sources say; Curry, Durant, Embiid projected starters for Team USA

July 6 update: Despite nearing his 40s, LeBron James is expected to start for the United States national team in this year’s Olympics, sources tell.

The US men’s basketball team has assembled in Las Vegas, and one of head coach Steve Kerr’s main tasks during training camp will be sorting out the roster rotation, which might involve considering a reserve role for James.

Earlier, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon reported that sources within the USA Basketball program indicated that while there’s a possibility James doesn’t feature in the starting lineup, such a scenario appears unlikely.

Last week, Kerr addressed the media regarding the starting five, stating that no final decisions have been made: “It’s a great question, and my staff and I have talked about it quite a bit. It’s a great question, but I would guess that all 12 guys on this roster are going to be Hall of Famers someday. So how do you pick five out of 12? Our thought process is finding the right combinations and finding groups that can work on both ends of the floor.”

“So, our main focus in Vegas will be finding the right five-man group and asking all 12 guys to buy into the goal of winning a gold medal, whatever that looks like, whoever’s playing.”

Typically, James would be a lock for the starting lineup. Vardon also mentioned Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant as players already penciled in as starters for Team USA.

The main competitors for one of the remaining two spots could be Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis, with Davis particularly likely to start due to the USA team’s previous defensive and rebounding issues at the FIBA World Cup.

Leonard remains a strong defender at this stage of his career but isn’t at the level he was when he won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2014-15 and 2015-16. It would be unusual, to say the least, if James were not in the starting lineup for any team he plays on. In his 1,492-game NBA career, he has come off the bench only twice.

This year marks James’ first Olympics appearance since 2012, and the Paris Games could potentially be the 39-year-old’s swan song with the US national squad. Since 2004, James has played in 68 games for Team USA, averaging 14.4 points per game with a 60.1% shooting percentage, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists.

The US team’s opening Olympic contest is scheduled for July 29 against Serbia.