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LeBron James probably won’t play in world championships

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Team USA may have lost its king.

Cleveland’s LeBron James told reporters Wednesday night that he’s ‘probably not playing’ this summer in the world championships in Turkey.

‘I got a really, really, really, really, really busy summer,’ James said before playing the Milwaukee Bucks. ‘There are a lot of decisions I need to make this summer before I decide to get back out on the court.’

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James is eligible for free agency after the season and plans to film a movie over the summer.

Declining to participate, however, could jeopardize his chances of playing for the 2012 Olympic team in London.

‘If someone chooses not to play this summer just because he chooses not to play, there’s no guarantee he’ll be in London,’ said USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo.

James played in the world championships three consecutive summers from 2006 to 2008, was a member of the 2004 Olympic team in Athens and a captain of the 2008 Olympic team that won a gold medal in Beijing.

Regardless, Colangelo said, there are ‘no free passes.’ He insisted, though, that he was not going to stress about who was playing until training camp in July.

‘Why speculate now when it’s still too early?’ he said. ‘I don’t even care at this point. I’ll care when we get to July.’

-- Melissa Rohlin

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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