Anthony Davis, Chris Bosh, and Dwight Howard are all out for the Olympics with injuries, so the US is really thin on the front line right now.
As a result, we'll probably see LeBron James play significant minutes at the 5 against certain teams in London.
The only other big men options for the US are Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, and Lamar Odom.
Chandler is the type of traditional rim-protecting big man that struggles in international play. Griffin and Love should both get minutes, but neither of them are centers. And Lamar Odom is Lamar Odom.
That means LeBron — who just dominated the NBA Finals at power forward after winning three MVPs as a small forward — is going to have to step in and nominally play center in a something like a James-Durant-Anthony-Williams-Paul lineup.
It speaks to just how exceptional a player LeBron is that we all assume he can dictate the game from all five positions. But if he actually goes out and wins the US a gold medal while playing out of position, the myth of LeBron will only continue to grow.
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