Clippers' Odom withdraws from Olympic tryouts

The pool of players that the USA will draw from to select their 2012 Olympic men's basketball team shrunk further with the withdrawal of Los Angeles Clipper Lamar Odom. Odom told USA Basketball men's national team head coach Mike Krzyzewski that he won't be available to try out for the team this month. "While it is unfortunate to have lost the players we have, Coach Krzyzewski and I remain extremely confident with the group of players we'll have at our training camp in Las Vegas," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. Odom was traded on Friday to the Clippers. He averaged a career low 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in 50 games with the Dallas Mavericks last year. Odom spent his first four NBA seasons with the Clippers. He played one year in Miami and then seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. In the 2010-11 season, he won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award. Seven players have been lost from the original set of Olympic hopefuls, leaving 15 others to fill 12 Olympic spots and a July 7 deadline for Krzyzewski to name a final roster. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh helped lead the Miami Heat to the NBA title last month but Wade pulled out because of knee surgery. Doctors told Bosh not to play in the Olympics because he could aggravate an abdominal strain that sidelined him during the playoffs. Orlando's Dwight Howard suffered a back injury during the season and Derrick Rose, last year's NBA Most Valuable Player, tore a left knee ligament in Chicago's first playoff game. Chauncey Billups of the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge are also out with injuries. The Americans remain a formidable ineup led by LeBron James of the Heat, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant, plus Russell Westbrook and James Harden of NBA finals runner-up Oklahoma City. New York's Tyson Chandler and Minnesota's Kevin Love are the top big men remaining after the injuries. The United States is looking for a fifth title in six tries since NBA talent debuted with the 1992 US "Dream Team" at Barcelona.