Is Kobe's Absence Actually the Reason LeBron Would Opt Out of Olympics?

LeBron and Kobe’s teams played against each other for the 2nd-to-last time on Wednesday. The former grew up idolizing the latter, and there is a story out there from Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding that Kobe’s absence from the Olympics in Rio could be a determining factor in LeBron’s opting out of the games:

"The guy who wore No. 8 on a poster on James’ wall, whose hairstyle James once tried to emulate and work ethic James blew up into some mythical force of personal fear-based motivation, was and always will be a god to James. That’s why Bryant not pursuing a spot on the U.S. Olympic basketball team this summer is a very real reason James might also not join the team, according to NBA sources. James is that disappointed the Rio Olympics will not serve as the final, ultimate celebration of Bryant’s career—and more so that James won’t have the priceless honor of being Bryant’s co-star teammate when it ends."

To be clear there is no reason to doubt that Ding’s sourcing here, but this seems like a comparatively flimsy reason for LeBron and/or his camp to be floating to skip the games, when he has plenty of legitimate ones.

LeBron has already won two gold medals, and he already has a million miles on his odometer. The Cavs will presumably be playing until May or June, so if LeBron played in the Olympics he’d have almost no offeseason to recuperate. There are lots of younger players who would leap for the opportunity. The general situation in Brazil means the games might be a debacle.

Again, LeBron remains undecided about whether he’ll play in the Olympics. It would be sensible for him not to. But to opt out because Kobe won’t be there? Eh.