LeBron James Says Gregg Popovich Will Impact Decision to Play in 2020 Olympics

Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is already thinking ahead to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo but hasn't made a decision yet on whether he will play for Team USA or not. 

On Saturday, he revealed to ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin that playing for the team's new head coach, Gregg Popovich, will play a large factor. 

"I've said that before," James said. "He's just a great mastermind of the game of basketball."

The longtime head coach of the San Antonio Spurs has been a steady, successful presence on the sidelines for the past two decades. 

Since the 1997-98 season, his first full year as the team's head coach, Popovich has guided the Spurs to the postseason every year while winning five championships. 

Two of those titles came against James—once when he was in his first stint with the Cavaliers in 2007 and once with the Miami Heat in 2014. 

Popovich's success and coaching style has won the respect of James, who has done little to hide his admiration for the veteran coach:

Popovich was an assistant on the United States' 2004 Olympic Team that won bronze in Athens, Greece, and was named head coach in 2015, per McMenamin.

Before his Spurs took on the Cavaliers on Saturday night, Popovich expressed his fondness for James on Saturday, per McMenamin:

"

We've had a lot of fun over the years going back and forth on the court, so I respect the hell out of him. I've really enjoyed his progression, because now he truly is "The King." In the beginning he wasn't. Everybody tried to make him that. He handled it really well. That was a tough situation for a young guy to be in like that. But the fact that he rose to that level and earned it, I think is very appropriate and really a tribute to him.

"

James did not play for Team USA in 2016, opting to rest after he led the Cavaliers to their first-ever NBA title over the Golden State Warriors. 

According to McMenamin, he is ranked third on the Olympic team's all-time scoring list behind Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant. 

While he would be 35 years old when the 2020 Games roll around, Popovich's place on Team USA could coax James in representing the Red, White and Blue one more time.