Advertisement

Cleveland Cavaliers' Kevin Love skipping 2019 FIBA World Cup

By Connor Grott
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love will become the ninth player to skip playing for Team USA in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. File Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love will become the ninth player to skip playing for Team USA in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. File Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo

July 24 (UPI) -- Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star forward Kevin Love is skipping the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China and will become the ninth player to withdraw from playing for the United States.

League sources told The Athletic and Cleveland.com on Wednesday that Love called Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich to inform him of his decision to drop out of the tournament.

Advertisement

Love will join Anthony Davis, James Harden, Damian Lillard, DeMar DeRozan, Bradley Beal, Eric Gordon, Tobias Harris and CJ McCollum as players that will pull out of the event.

Love originally planned to attend USA Basketball's training camp from Aug. 5-8 in Las Vegas for a chance to be selected as one of 12 players to participate in the World Cup.

The five-time NBA All-Star missed a significant portion of last season due to surgery on his toe, seeing action in only 22 games during the 2018-19 campaign. He averaged 17.0 points and 10.9 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per game.

Advertisement

The 2019 FIBA World Cup begins Aug. 31 and runs until Sept. 15. The U.S. national team will play exhibition games in Australia before traveling to Asia.

The final roster for Team USA will be announced Aug. 17. The Americans begin play against the Czech Republic on Sept. 1 in Shanghai.

Latest Headlines