Rio marks the fifth straight Olympics for which Cuesta’s club has failed to qualify, perhaps because many of America’s potential elite handballers are in the National Basketball Association or playing Olympic hoops. True, they have no incentives to play handball, but disregard that for a moment: Really, how long would it take LeBron James to become the best handball player in the world? Still, it’s striking to hear the coach of US handball admit that a guy who’s never played the game could destroy lifelong players after six months of practice.
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He added: “This is just a hypothetical”.
Six months is a very optimistic outlook, considering the best handball players in the world have been honing their skills for many years. “When you see him playing, your mouth drops”. “It’s hard to talk about that”, he said, laughing.
LeBron James and Sydney Leroux were each the focus of talk Wednesday about qualifying for the Games in a second discipline. The way he sees the court, his vision for the game, is very impressive.
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There’s no denying that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in the history of sports. Or both, if you’re Toronto Raptor and USA guard Kyle Lowry. And physically, he is fantastic. Nobody who has any chance to play NBA basketball, or even basketball in Europe, is going to consider handball over hoops, but maybe if some of America’s better athletes consider taking on team handball on a whim, they can at least qualify for the Olympics.
