DENVER-
Marcus Camby wanted to help Team USA qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics this summer, but he’s putting his family before the flag.
Camby, the NBA’s defensive player of the year, declined an invitation from USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo to participate in the team’s camp in Las Vegas this summer because of a pressing family matter.
“Marcus was honored to get invited and he really wanted to do it, but a personal family situation requires his full attention this summer,” Camby’s agent, Rick Kaplan, said Thursday. “He would love to have played for Team USA, but he can’t make that commitment because he has to focus on his family right now.
“It was a gut-wrenching decision, but the one he had to make.”
Earlier this month, Camby’s wife delivered the couple’s second child, a girl.
Colangelo was looking for a defensive specialist to complement the Americans’ usual offensive stars that fill the roster, and Camby would have fit the bill.
He averaged 11.7 boards last season, when he led the league with 3.3 blocks per game. He was named to the All-Defensive team for the first time and was voted the league’s top defender at age 33.
