The NBA's Most Valuable Player, Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant, will be playing for the U.S team

Despite failing to win the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic games, and in the 2006 International World Championship, expectations for this year's U.S. Olympic basketball team remain high.  The roster includes some of the best professional players in the National Basketball Association including superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.  But as VOA's Brian Padden reports a U.S. team made up of NBA stars can no longer automatically dominate international competition because the world is full of NBA stars.