Team USA Roster Problems: Kevin Durant Withdraws from FIBA World Cup 2014 - Why?

Team USA lost another star in its roster for the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

According to CBS Sports, Kevin Durant, who was supposed to take on the role of power forward, has withdrawn from the national team on August 7.

Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball chairman, made the announcement: "Kevin reached out to Coach K and myself this afternoon and expressed that he is just physically and mentally drained from the NBA season and his attention to his many responsibilities. He tried to give it a go at our recent Las Vegas training camp but felt coming out of camp that he was not prepared to fulfill the commitment he made to the team. Coach K and I fully support Kevin. His well being is the most important thing to us and we support him taking the time to get ready for next season. He's been part of the National Team program for eight years and a big part of the success we have achieved, and we look forward to him being part of our success in the future as well."

In an AP Sports report, Durant joins Paul George, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge on the list of stars who withdrew from the tournament. The MVP said, "This was an extremely difficult decision as I take great pride in representing our country. I know that I owe it to my USA Basketball teammates to be totally invested in the experience. After going through training camp with USAB, I realized I could not fulfill my responsibilities to the team from both a time and energy standpoint."

He added, "I need to take a step back and take some time away, both mentally and physically in order to prepare for the upcoming NBA season. I will be rooting for USAB and look forward to future opportunities with them."

Currently, the team will have to adjust and possibly put Chandler Parsons in the spot. The roster is down to 15 players.

In 2010, Durant played with Team USA in Turkey, and averaged 22.8 points a game. In one game against Lithuana, he scored 38 points. Team USA has won the gold medal in the last two meets. While playing for Team USA, Durant averaged 19.9 points and played 31 games. He shot 48 percent from the three-point mark, AP Sports added.