By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Miami, FL

Miami Heat power forward Chris Bosh will not be playing for Team USA in the London Olympics after he was advised by doctors to rest to completely heal the lower abdominal strain that he sustained in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers.

Bosh missed nine games due to that injury but returned just in time in Game 5 of the East Finals to save the Heat after they went down, 3-2, against the Boston Celtics.

"He called this morning and said the doctor's advice was it would be best to rest the abdominals because if he were to re-injure it, it could be reoccurring injury," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said.

The news came after Bosh teammate Dwyane Wade informed Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski he will not play because he needs surgery on his ailing left knee.

"All of those things occurred during the course of the NBA regular season, and we've always talked about injuries playing such a significant role in our game," Colangelo said. "It's amazing there aren't more injuries because of the nature of the game."

The team has already lost seven key players to injury, including Chauncey Billups, LaMarcus Aldridge, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Wade and Bosh.

After Rose and Howard went down with injuries, Colangelo added Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden and Kentucky's Anthony Davis, who was drafted first overall by the New Orleans Hornets.

Despite the latest setbacks, Colangelo has no plan to add any more players and expects to announce the final 12-man roster July 7.

"The very structure that we have in place with the national team concept really comes into play here," Colangelo said. "We have such depth in terms of talent that we will be able to withstand all of these injuries. I feel very confident we will be very successful."

"We have to play with the cards that are dealt. We've had substantial injuries, and that's bad. The good news is we're deep enough and we're going to be able to get through that," he added.

Included in the16-man roster are Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks, Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, LeBron James of the Heat, forward Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Lamar Odom of the Clippers.

The team's lack of height will be its biggest problem , especially when it goes up against Spain, which boasts of two seven-footers in brothers Pau Gasol of Los Angeles Lakers and Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies and 6-10 Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

 

 

Chris Bosh to Rest Abdominals and Skip Olympics