Now that Glenn Robinson has pulled himself off the U.S. Olympic basketball team, Gary Payton is ready to give it his best shot.
That's the word from Payton's agent, Aaron Goodwin, who said Tuesday his client has been invited to replace the Milwaukee Bucks' star forward on the Dream Team."He will be on the Dream Team," Goodwin told Seattle radio station KJR Tuesday night from East Rutherford, N.J., the site of tonight's NBA draft.
Goodwin said the invitation to the Seattle point guard was extended Tuesday after the USA Basketball selection committee spoke by conference call, and Payton accepted later in the day.
There was no official word from USA Basketball, however. The organization said a formal announcement was expected by the end of the week.
Robinson, a forward who was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft in 1994, withdrew from the Olympic team Tuesday because of an Achilles tendon injury. Robinson said he didn't want to risk worsening the injury and missing a full season.
"It will be a test of me to continue to keep striving and play hard so I can be selected on the next Dream Team," Robinson said.
Robinson's agent, Charles Tucker, said the tendinitis flared recently.
"It's been aggravating him for a while," Tucker said by telephone from Gary, Ind. "He kind of overtrained. Somebody told him he could snap it and, if he snapped it, he'd have to have an operation. I'd say it's best to lay off for a while and see what happens."
Robinson has missed just one game during his two seasons. That was during his rookie season and it involved a hip pointer. Bucks trainer Mark Pfeil said Robinson has had the tendinitis in his right leg for two years, off and on.
"This is something we treat symptomatically," Pfeil said. "It's like any other overuse problem."
Robinson averaged 20.2 points and 6.1 rebounds a game last season.
"I'm sorry to hear the news, because it would be a tremendous opportunity for a young player like him," Olympic coach Lenny Wilkens said. "I realize what a disappointment it would be for him to miss the Olympic Games."
Payton, who helped lead the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA Finals this month, was the league's Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 20.7 points and 6.8 assists a game and shot .485.
He will be joined by four other guards on the 12-player Olympic team - John Stockton, Anfernee Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Reggie Miller.
Payton's addition would appear to overload the squad at guard, but Stockton has been slowed by a sore knee and ankle, and Miller was sidelined for most of the playoffs with a fractured eye orbit.
The team is to gather Sunday in Chicago and begin workouts the next day.