LeBron James - International Career

International Career

In 2004, James was selected to the United States national team for the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The team finished the competition with a bronze medal, becoming the first USA squad to return home without a gold medal since NBA professionals became eligible. Limited to 14.6 minutes per game, James averaged just 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.

Next, James set his sights on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. At the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, he took on a greater role for Team USA, averaging 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game as co-captain. The squad finished the competition with an 8–1 record, again failing to win a gold medal and leaving with a bronze. Having failed to win the World Championship, Team USA were forced to compete at Americas Championships 2007 to qualify for the Olympics. During the tournament's championship game against Argentina, James recorded 31 points, the most ever by an American in an Olympic qualifier, as Team USA finally captured gold medal honors, officially qualifying for the 2008 Olympics. For the tournament, he averaged 18.1 points, 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on a tournament-high 76 percent shooting and 62.2 percent three-point shooting percentage. At the Olympics, Team USA reclaimed the gold medal, defeating Spain 118–107 in the final game. James turned in 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists as the team went unbeaten, winning their first gold medal since 2000. It was later reported that he was originally at risk for not being included on the national team's roster due to his immaturity and "downright disrespectfulness".

James did not play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, citing his busy schedule during the summer. He was selected for the 2012 United States Olympic team to compete in London, where he recorded the first triple double (11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists) in Olympic basketball history against the Australia men's national basketball team. He also helped the team to their second straight gold medal in a 107–100 victory against Spain, in which he had 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. In the fourth quarter, LeBron made a dunk that tied him with David Robinson for the USA's all-time scoring lead, but a three with under two minutes left gave him the top spot with 273 points all-time. With the U.S. winning the gold medal, James joined Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen as the only players to have won NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year (a feat Pippen achieved twice). James also became the only player other than Jordan to have won an NBA championship and an NBA MVP award in the same year as winning an Olympic gold medal.