Utah Jazz: Deron Williams won't sit out World Championships like other stars

LOS ANGELES — When it comes to his willingness to play this summer for Team USA at the FIBA World Championships in Turkey, Jazz point guard Deron Williams remains in.

His pledge, however, comes with a caveat.

"It depends on how my injuries feel at that time," he said prior to practice Thursday in Salt Lake City in advance of tonight's game against the Los Angeles Lakers. "But as of right now (the commitment is 100 percent)."

Williams has dealt with a variety of injury issues this season, perhaps most notably a sprained and bruised shooting wrist.

He has compared the wrist injury to the one sustained last season by Jazz shooting guard Kyle Korver, and Korver wound up having surgery in the offseason to correct the problem.

Health matters, though, probably are the only reason Williams wouldn't play with USA Basketball.

That's not the case, though, for certain other high-profile Americans.

Responding Thursday to an Associated Press report that Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James "said Wednesday night that he's 'probably not playing' for Team USA this summer," Williams suggested he didn't think the Americans would be nearly as good without him as they were when they won gold the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

James, a two-time Olympian and captain on the '08 U.S. team, cited "a really, really, really, really, really busy summer" that includes potential free agency and the filming of a movie for his status.

Other American stars who could be unavailable due to pending free agency include Miami's Dwyane Wade, who according to a Yahoo.com report on Thursday "has already decided against playing for Team USA this summer," and Toronto's Chris Bosh.

"It would be tough," Williams said. "If LeBron and some of those guys don't play, it's gonna be hard.

"Kevin Durant (of Oklahoma City), I'm sure, is probably one guy that's gonna be on the team," he added. "There's some other guys that can fill in. But they're not LeBron James."

USA Basketball boss Jerry Colangelo, according to the AP report, "has warned that blowing off the world championships without a good reason and then playing in the (2012 London) Olympics wouldn't be allowed, just as it wasn't last time around."

Whoever plays this summer in Turkey, and beyond, can expect to see Williams trying to take more of a leadership role than he did when he and New Orleans star Chris Paul were the points in Beijing along with three-time Olympian Jason Kidd of Dallas.

"I'm definitely confident that I can do that," he said, "and I think Chris Paul as well. We're the two guys that can lead the team."

e-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com