NBA To Continue Push For Olympic Age Limit

4:40pm: FIBA unveiled a few proposals it will take to the International Olympic Committee, and one of them is designed to address concerns NBA teams have had about the wear and tear of the Olympic competition by shortening its length, Zillgitt writes (via the Detroit Free Press). FIBA wants to increase the number of teams from 12 to 16 and reduce the number of games in pool play from five to three.

"It's certainly wear and tear – 19 days of London, plus the preparation time," said Baumann, the FIBA secretary general. "When you finish the (NBA) season on 20 of June, the beginning of July you are in Las Vegas, by the end of July you are here and by the time you get home and put your things down in a cupboard, that's a pretty long time." 

2:45pm: FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann today told reporters, including USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, that he feels his organization will not propose an age limit for the 2016 Olympic games (Twitter link). Ian Thomsen of SI.com reported earlier this week that a 23-and-under restriction was unlikely for 2016, but Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears the NBA will keep pushing for an age limit. A source tells Stein "this will eventually happen" despite FIBA's resistance.

Part of FIBA's unwillingness to restrict older players from the Olympics is the feeling that doing so would make Team USA even more dominant, Stein writes, adding that many from overseas feel American players generally develop faster.

Team USA chairman Jerry Colangelo has expressed a desire to know soon whether or not the age limit will be in place for 2016. Colangelo said that he will make multiple rosters for each contingency, Stein reports. Colangelo is not sure that Mike Krzyzewski can be persuaded to return as coach for 2016, despite lobbying from players, but is more optimistic that LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony will be back (All Twitter links).

Baumann said he would like to move basketball's World Cup, formerly known as the World Championships, back a year to avoid conflict with soccer's World Cup, Zillgitt tweets, meaning the 2018 competition might not take place until 2019. NBA commissioner David Stern has spoken about making the World Cup of Basketball the marquee international basketball competition instead of the Olympics.

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