USAB Chief: Lockout will not prevent USA Olympic basketball team competing

Jerro Colangelo, the Head of USA Basketball (USAB), has said that he believes the current lockout will not implicate on the USA’s ability to field a strong Olympic basketball squad of 15 at next summer’s London 2012 Games.

Colangelo told NBA.com: “I haven’t even really started reaching out, and I’m fielding calls. They’re calling me and they’re calling me to say they’re playing.”

If the lockout is still ongoing for the start of next year’s Olympics, there could be many logistical and potentially legal problems.

But Colangelo insisted: “I think it’s important that people in the basketball world – fans, media – understand something very basic.

“USA Basketball is self-sustaining; it’s its own entity; it is not an arm of the NBA.”

The dispute, which began on July 1 when the NBA started a lockout of its players, will continue until a new collective bargaining agreement is reached with the National Basketball Players Association.