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Minnesota’s Kevin Love won’t play for USA Basketball at World Cup

Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love has informed USA Basketball that he will not be joining the team for this summer's FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
(Ann Heisenfelt / Associated Press)
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Thanks to continued uncertainty about what NBA jersey Kevin Love will wear next, the Minnesota Timberwolves star has informed Team USA he won’t be wearing theirs this summer.

USA Basketball announced Saturday that Love will be unavailable to join the team as it prepares for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. Training camp is scheduled to begin on Monday in Las Vegas.

Love had previously committed to playing in the 2014 tournament in July of last year.

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“He wants to play but it’s a little bit of a sign of the times when you look at the league in terms of contracts, rumored trades,” USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo told the Associated Press. “All of those circumstances puts players I’m a funny position.”

The Timberwolves have been fielding numerous offers for the three-time All-Star, but the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls appear to be the front-runners with the most to offer Minnesota.

Love led the NBA in double-doubles (65) last season while averaging 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

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Love won gold medals with the the U.S. basketball team at the 2010 world championships and 2012 Olympics in London.

Earlier this week Blake Griffin announced that he would not be joining the team in order to focus on his upcoming season with the Clippers. Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge and San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard have also decided not to play for USA Basketball this summer.

“The fact is we can only look to the players we have available. Our job is to get the job done with our very, very deep roster, and we’re anxious to get things started,” Colangelo said in a release.

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There are still 18 players expected to participate in training camp and from there the team’s roster will be eventually be reduced to 12. The team begins exhibition games in mid-August.

Players expected at Team USA’s training camp include:

Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors
Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets
Paul George, Indiana Pacers
James Harden, Houston Rockets
Gordon Hayward, Utah Jazz
Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers
Kyle Korver, Atlanta Hawks
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
Chandler Parsons, Dallas Mavericks
Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
John Wall, Washington Wizards

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