RealGM

Watching the struggles teammate Tony Parker experienced during the 2013-14 Spurs season after competing for the French national team in last summer’s Eurobasket tournament, Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard made what he called a very difficult decision to withdraw from competition for a spot on the United States team that will compete in the FIBA World Cup in Spain later this summer.

The MVP of the 2014 NBA Finals, Leonard was considered a shoo-in to make Team USA, the favorite to win the tournament formely called the FIBA World Championship.

Though he stressed he came through The Finals completely healthy, Leonard said the experience of playing into late June in back-to-back trips to the Finals took a physical toll.

“I went through those two seasons going down to June 20,” Leonard said. “That’s tough on your body to keep going. I’m just learning from Tony and Manu (Ginobili), just going into that off-season and playing so hard and then coming back and their bodies not feeling the same and then being tired for the regular season. So I’m just learning from them.”

Nolan wrote: This kid just gets it now if only Manu could figure this out as well.

Phreak50 wrote:

Nolan wrote: This kid just gets it now if only Manu could figure this out as well.

It's called national pride.

Most non-American players get more fulfilment out of playing for their country than in the NBA.