LAS VEGAS — If attendance was mandatory, USA Basketball’s minicamp at UNLV this week would be overflowing with explosive storylines: LeBron James would be meeting the media for the first time since joining the Lakers, Gregg Popovich and Kawhi Leonard would be sharing the court after their highly-publicized divorce, and Stephen Curry and Chris Paul would be going head-to-head after their shimmy-off in the Western Conference finals.
Alas, James, Leonard, Curry, Draymond Green and other A-listers are reportedly expected to skip the three-day meet and greet, thereby shifting some of the attention from offseason fireworks to USA Basketball’s future under Popovich, who officially took the reins from Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski following the 2016 Rio Olympics.