Stephen Curry will not play for Team USA in 2016 Rio Olympics
Team USA will be without the back-to-back NBA MVP as Stephen Curry has decided that he will not play in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
As he leads the Golden State Warriors to a 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, the off season plans for Stephen Curry are starting to come out.
Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News cites sources in reporting, “Stephen Curry will not play in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.” Thompson continued, “He may not be the only Warriors star to opt out.”
A back-to-back NBA MVP who appears primed for his second-consecutive league championship, Thompson says that Curry will instead rehab his right knee this off season.
Team USA will undoubtedly be the favorites to take home the gold medal in Rio, but not having Curry on the roster obviously hurts their chances. While they should be fine having a huge selection of other star players to choose from, the Zika virus share could defer the well-off NBA players from traveling to Brazil.
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The report also talks about Curry’s teammates Andre Igoudala and Klay Thompson possibly opting out of the Olympics due to concerns over the Zika virus. “Players have been advised to not to bring their families to Rio and to sleep in nets due to the potential issues with the virus,” according to Sports Illustrated.
It will be extremely interesting to see how many Team USA players the Zika virus scares away. They will probably be fine regardless, but not having the back-to-back league MVP taking himself out of the running could be a sign of things to come.
Will veteran Team USA players like LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony follow suit? Only time will tell.
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