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How big a deal is that? Not that massive, realistically, when viewed through a strictly American prism. USA Basketball will continue to field teams that qualify for every major tournament even if it has to trot out a pack of All-Stars from the D-League for most of the qualifying games starting in November 2017. As one longtime European coach told ESPN.com this week: "There's no way FIBA would go to a system that hurts the big countries. They want the stars playing in the biggest tournaments." ESPN.com

FIBA, USA Basketball, Schedule, Olympics, World Championship 

Jerry Colangelo's re-election as chairman of the USA national team means Phil Jackson's desire to add that post to his resumè is not likely to be sated. Jerry isn't Jim Buss when it comes to Phil, but it's not the kind of relationship that bears favors. Gregg Popovich and Doc Rivers remain the top candidates to succeed Coach K. Pop's familiarity with all things Europe is a big plus. about 6 hours ago Sulia

Phil Jackson, Coaching, Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball 

All through the summer, as Team USA pursued its second consecutive Olympic gold medal and its third straight international tournament championship, team chairman Jerry Colangelo remained coy about his future with the organization. He dropped hints that, unlike coach Mike Krzyzewski, he would be returning for another tour with USA Basketball, at least through the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but he would not specifically confirm that he was planning to be back. On Tuesday, it became official —Colangelo was elected chairman of Team USA again. “I'm excited to again serve USA Basketball as chairman for the next four years,” Colangelo said in a statement. “I'm proud of the many successes USA Basketball's coaches and players achieved over the past four years and I'm looking forward to helping keep that momentum going. Sporting News

Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball, Mike Krzyzewski 

Jerry Colangelo on Tuesday was re-elected chairman of USA Basketball's board of directors for 2013 to 2016, a period which includes the 2014 men's FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain and women's World Cup in Turkey and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Colangelo has transformed the U.S. men's team after a disappointing bronze medal and disinterested effort at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Since Colangelo joined USA Basketball in 2005 as managing director of the men's national team, the U.S. men are 62-1 with gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2010 world championships and 2012 London Olympics. The men did not lose a game at those three events under Colangelo and U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski. USA Today

Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball, Mike Krzyzewski, World Championship 

Take a look at the transcript below from Colangelo’s recent interview on SheridanHoopsRadio. When the subject of who would replace Mike Krzyzewski was raised, Colangelo threw Rivers’ name out there without any prompting. (And while he was at it, he flat-out rejected the notion of Russia’s head coach, David Blatt, an Israeli-American who played collegiately at Princeton, coming under consideration for the job. The next Team USA coach will lead the team in the summer of 2014 at the World Cup (formerly known as the World Championship) in Spain. SheridanHoops

Coaching, USA Basketball, Mike Krzyzewski, David Blatt 

Krzyzewski and James started to get to know each other once Krzyzewski took over coaching duties for Team USA in 2005. James was part of Coach K’s first Team USA experience, when the team finished third at the World Championships in 2006 — setting the stage for a gold medal performance at Beijing in 2008. James and Krzyzewski won gold for the second time this past summer in London. “[Krzyzewski] understood him and Kobe [Bryant] and those other guys who didn’t go to college,” said Wade, who was with Team USA in 2006 and ’08. “And if you can pick one college coach to play for, obviously, Coach K tops that list for many,” Wade said. “They took their relationship personal; he pushed him. And [James] didn’t get that experience. You can tell they both really loved it.” Miami Herald

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Coaching, USA Basketball, Mike Krzyzewski 

It is the closest the Heat gets to Krzyzewski’s campus in Durham — just a few miles away. Krzyzewski hasn’t confirmed whether he will be attending the game, but James said on Monday that it would “be awesome” if he did. “We have a great relationship,” James said. “We’ve been together since ’05, and our relationship has grown every year. I’ve grown from a young man into a man into a leader of that team. He’s helped me develop that. I give a lot of credit to him.” Miami Herald

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Coaching, USA Basketball, Mike Krzyzewski 

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo told the Globe in May that Rivers was on his radar, but Rivers is publicly lobbying for Collins to get the position. Rivers privately is intrigued by the possibility but is wary of the effect it would have on his relationships with the players. “Honestly, I think that’s a hard job for an NBA coach,” said Rivers. “First of all, hopefully you’re playing in June, and college coaches are done in March. They have a lot more time to prepare. “The biggest difference for a college coach is that the seven players that they don’t [start] can never get back at them. If I did become the coach, the seven guys I didn’t play, I would just have to prepare when we play them in the regular season — they are going to try to score 50 on me. You’ve just got to endure that.” Boston Globe

Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Coaching, Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball 

The 2012 Finals allegedly heralded the triumph of a new era in the NBA, with two wing players — LeBron James and Kevin Durant — logging heavy minutes at "power forward" in non-traditional lineups that broke opponents with speed and shooting. Two months later, an injury-depleted Team USA won the Olympics almost exclusively with lineups featuring one or zero traditional big men. The next half-decade or so will answer the question: Was this the acceleration of a long-term trend, or just the impact of two all-time great players who happen to be wing types capable of shifting to power forward? Grantland

Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, USA Basketball 

Despite the Lakers' early playoff exit, Gasol became a driving force two months later at the Olympics. He got Spain to the gold-medal game and had 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a surprisingly close 107-100 loss to Team USA. When it was over, Kobe Bryant found Gasol and hugged his Lakers teammate. "It was a tough moment for me," Gasol said at the time. "He came all the way to our bench. It was a great gesture from him." Said Bryant: "I just told him I loved him and he did a fantastic job. He played his heart out. I told him to get some rest because we've got a long [season] coming up. "He said he would. He said he's going to be ready." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, USA Basketball, Spain, Olympics 

Kobe Bryant said Tuesday that he decided not to undergo the German blood-spinning procedure on his surgically repaired right knee again during the past offeseason. Bryant had he was “a little busy” over the summer — he helped USA Basketball to a gold medal in the Olympics — but also was feeling good enough about the knee in its current state to stay after the Lakers’ lengthy opening practice Tuesday and do extensive individual shooting work. The only other Lakers player left on the court at that point was long-shot rookie center Ronnie Aguilar, shooting free throws at a distant basket. Orange County Register

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, USA Basketball, Injuries 

In London, Durant heard comparisons between the '92 and '12 teams, but stayed out of the discussion. He said he's excited about seeing two U.S. teams separated by 20 years square off, at least digitally. "I can't wait to see that, man," Durant said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports. "They did so much for the game. Those are guys we all looked up to ... It'll be cool to have them in the game and to play against them. It's something people will really enjoy because the actual game will never happen." USA Today

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, USA Basketball, Videogames 

Before the first question can even be completed, Cousins -- looking lean and mean at 6-foot-11 with a frame that is nearly 20 pounds lighter than it was at last season's end -- provides a reminder as to why he's rattled so many cages in recent years. He is forever candid and uncouth, and, in this case, quick to correct the premise of a reporter's first question. His experience with the U.S. select team in Las Vegas in July won't be remembered as a positive one, he insists, and his well-publicized dust-up with USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo is to blame. "No, it wasn't [positive]," Cousins interjected unapologetically. "No." SI.com

Sacramento Kings, DeMarcus Cousins, Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball 

During the week in which the select squad played against the Olympic team as training for the London Olympics, Cousins drew criticism for being too physical during scrimmages. Colangelo told reporters that Cousins "has some growing up to do." Cousins approaching the USA Basketball chairman to discuss their rift. "I didn't enjoy it," he said of the experience. "I went out there, and ... I'm not going to say I didn't learn anything from it, because I did. But it was just, in my mind, another political battle. I learned more about politics. I saw the work ethic of the so-called elite in the league, and I took some notes from that and took that back with me. But as far as the rest of it? No. SI.com

Sacramento Kings, DeMarcus Cousins, Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball 

"Honestly, the scrimmages were one-sided the whole time. To even have a chance, you had to play hard as hell. I mean, we were out there getting our heads knocked off, and if they're going to play physical then I'm going to play physical back. I'm not out there trying to start fights, just trying to stand on my own. But I guess the ignorance of people is they take it as being immature." SI.com

Sacramento Kings, DeMarcus Cousins, Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball 

Jerry Zgoda: Rubio on KLove's gold medal: "He will have the silver medal in 2016, don't worry." Twitter @JerryZgoda

Minnesota Timberwolves, Ricky Rubio, USA Basketball, Spain, Kevin Love, Olympics 

It must have been even more frustrating watching the Olympics on TV. You were on the 2010 FIBA World Championship team. Why don’t you think you got an invite to the Olympic team? How surprised were you? Do you think the ankle injury played a factor? Stephen Curry: Oh yeah I was surprised. I couldn’t believe it. I was very frustrated I didn’t get an invite, and I never got to have a conversation with them about it. Coach K and Mr. Colangelo put together a great roster for the World Championships in 2010, and I was fortunate to be a part of it and win a gold medal. I thought I played well and I thought I’d get a shot at making the Olympic roster but it didn’t happen for me. I definitely had it in my sights. When they started making decisions in April, I was out with the ankle injury, but the invite decisions came down before that. The Big Lead

Golden State Warriors, USA Basketball, Stephen Curry, Olympics 

Jared Zwerling: Iguodala told me yesterday the biggest thing that surprised him about any Olympic teammate was how funny Melo was. "Radio Raheem!" #Knicks Twitter

Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Andre Iguodala, Carmelo Anthony, USA Basketball, Olympics 

Kobe Bryant asked about what would happen if Dream Teams in Barcelona(’92) and London(’12) has a chance to go against each other with their full strenght. He said that: “I like our chances, It’s always interesting because if you’re talking about playing one game. If you look at the teams we have this year we had some incredible talented players in our team. Dream team(’92) is a team that we looked up to and we all admired, especially myself. So it’s always tough to say we’d beat them. We have so much respect for them but at the same time you know that you got bunch of guys in your team who are just as good and as competitive. It’d be a lot of fun, I’m getting excited thinking about it.” TrendBasket

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, USA Basketball, Olympics 

Love said the camaraderie among the U.S. players was “great.” “There was never a doubt it was going to happen,” he said. “It was a younger group of guys mixed with an older, veteran group, and we had to mesh. It started during training camp. That’s when we took off and became a strong unit. We felt we were all there as one in London.” Love caught some good-natured grief from his teammates while using his Instagram app on Twitter, sending out a photo of napping Paul, James, James Harden, Deron Williams and Anthony Davis during the team flight to London and tweeting it — accompanied by the hashtag “#GotEm” — for the world to see. Portland Tribune

Minnesota Timberwolves, USA Basketball, Kevin Love