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Dwight Howard said Monday he may not play for Team USA in the FIBA World Championship in Turkey later this summer. If Howard decides not to play, Brook Lopez would be the only seven-footer in the pool of players who'll try out for the team in Las Vegas at the end of July.
"I haven’t decided what I’m going to do," Howard said of the World Championship commitment after packing his bags at the Orlando Magic exit day meeting Monday. It was Howard's first public comment indicating he's wavering on Team USA. He was the starting center on the USA's gold-medal winning Olympic team two years ago.
Lopez participated in the 2009 USA Basketball National Team Mini-Camp last summer in Las Vegas.
Even before Howard's statement, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told Yahoo! Sports he expects this year's roster to be less star-studded than the Olympic team. Amare Stoudemire, who has played center for the Suns, has said he intends to play, but other than Lopez and Howard, only one other center, Kendrick Perkins, has been invited to the July 19-24 camp.
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Dwight Howard might not play for Team USA in FIBA World Championship - Josh Robbins - Orlando Sentinel