LeBron staying noncommittal on 2016 Olympics: 'I got a long time'

It seems far too early to be thinking about the 2016 Olympics, but with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Brazil this week, assembled media have wondered aloud if James will be back two summers from now.

James could be a free agent that summer, which muddies things to some degree. He's also very likely to be coming off a sixth consecutive season going as far as the conference finals, so there's a non-zero chance he's worn down by that point - over the last four seasons, Jams has played more regular season and playoff minutes combined than anyone else in the sport.

Still, the draw of playing for his country and winning a third gold medal seems to be enough that James isn't ruling it out.

"I'm undecided," James said Friday. "It's not until 2016. I got two years. I got a long time."

Since the United States won the FIBA World Cup this summer, they do not need to bother with qualifying via the FIBA Americas in 2015. That could provide it's core players with an offseason to rest up, or practice with the program under less intense circumstances. It also probably means a summer of questions about 2016, unfortunately.

If James does decide to play, it won't be a Big Three reunion in Rio, as Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade have both removed themselves from USA Basketball's player pool. Neither was on the 2012 gold medal team that skewed quite young. 

James' new running mates, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, are both a part of the player pool, and Love was a member of the 2012 squad in London.