The USA Basketball (USAB) minicamp in Las Vegas this August will be adding one more significant name to the already star-laden list of NBA players reportedly attending as San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard is set to participate in the camp.
Leonard will finally be attending the minicamp after turning down two previous invites from USAB.
The San Antonio Express-News reported the 24-year-old athlete's plan of going to the minicamp.
In 2013, Leonard was unable to attend the camp as he was trying to heal a knee injury that plagued him during the 2012-13 season.
Last year, he was a strong candidate to be a part of the USA team who won the FIBA World Cup but he decided to miss the camp to take a rest following two consecutive NBA Finals appearances, in which the Spurs won the title in 2014 with Leonard capturing the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
Leonard said it was a difficult decision at the time since he wanted to compete internationally but his body needed rest after a long season.
It will be different this year, as he is set to attend the minicamp aiming to make the cut and join the U.S. national team who will try to win its third straight Olympic gold medal next year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In the report by the San Antonio Express-News, the camp will have two practices on Aug. 11 and 12 before an inter-team scrimmage on Aug. 13 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Last season, Leonard played his best basketball as he averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 steals per outing in 64 regular season games played.
In the playoffs he improved his performance averaging 20.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game.
Unfortunately, San Antonio was unable to oust the Los Angeles Clippers to defend the NBA title, bowing out of the 2014-15 season after a tough seven-game series loss in the first round.
