LAS VEGAS — The Cleveland Cavaliers may not have an Olympian after all as forward Kevin Love has withdrawn from the Team USA and won’t be traveling to Tokyo for the games.
Love was in training camp with Team USA out in Las Vegas, and did appear in two exhibition games, totaling one point and five rebounds in 13 minutes of play.
Love’s reasoning for the withdrawal is due to the fact he isn’t at a high enough level of performance to compete in the Olympics. Love did miss 47 games this year due to injuries, including many of those because of a calf injury suffered early in the season.
"I am incredibly disappointed to not be heading to Tokyo with Team USA, but you need to be at absolute peak performance to compete at the Olympic level and I am just not there yet," Love said in a statement.
Love is the second player that Team USA will need to replace before the Olympics, as guard Bradley Beal is in the health and safety protocols and will not be cleared in time to travel to Tokyo with the team.
Cavaliers guard Darius Garland is still in camp with the team after he was called up from the USA Select Team to the Senior Team for the exhibition games. At this time it’s not known if Garland is a candidate to replace Beal or Love on the roster for the games.
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