After bringing Cleveland an NBA championship in June, LeBron James is probably having the greatest summer of his career. He decided to not join Team USA in their quest for a third consecutive gold medal, took time off to party with his wife, scored a 3-year deal to continue playing in The Land for $100 million like he won MegaBucks, and signed a billion-dollar (with a "B") lifetime endorsement deal with Nike.
Dude should be chillin' in his mansion while living up to the secondary definition of "cavalier" and presumably have no worries about anything. But in a recent interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, James still has the itch of wishing he had joined Team USA in Rio and helping his Cavs teammate Kyrie Irving and Team USA. He also talked about the open door he keeps about rejoining the team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The main reason why he wants to rejoin Team USA in 2020 is because San Antonio's legendary coach Gregg Popovich will be replacing longtime Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski for that Olympiad. Plus, in an interview with USA Today's Jeff Zillgilt, the 4-time MVP and 3-time NBA champion even praised Pop as the "GOAT" among NBA coaches. "It would be pretty amazing to be able to actually play for the greatest NBA coach of all time."
James clarified his statement about his adoration and prospects to play for Popovich in 2020:
At least James understands he must consider what his body will allow come 2020 when he's in the twilight of his career at age 35. But in terms of his opinion about the "greatest" NBA coaches to ever do it, Pop has 5 rings—yet you have to really wonder how he stacks up against Pat Riley (5 titles as an NBA coach), Red Auerbach (9), and Phil Jackson (11), too.