A London bridge for US?

Players mulling carryover effect

BEIJING - The United States men's basketball team that went after an Olympic gold medal early this morning against Spain could look very similar to the team that goes for gold in London in four years.

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Chris Bosh, and Deron Williams are all expected to consider playing for the 2012 US team for the London Olympics team, if asked.

"I will only be 27 years old," said Anthony, who is participating in his second Olympics. "I want all the gold medals I can get throughout my career."

Paul, 23, said, "I'm sure if you ask those guys if they want to play in 2012, they'll say yes."

But before the US looks ahead, it had a very important game against Spain, attempting to win an Olympic gold medal for the first time in eight years. The Americans (7-0) hammered the Spaniards, 119-82, in preliminary action.

A win stood to be very emotional, especially for the likes of James, Wade, and Anthony, who won only bronze medals during the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Championships.

"Everybody is excited," Anthony said. "I know that we are excited. Four years was a long time ago, but it seems like it was just yesterday. And everything could be turned around in a snap of a finger."

Said Wade, "It could be emotional. We've thought about it. But at the same time, we have to win this game.

"But I think everybody has thought about that moment where you lean down and put the gold medal around your neck and you hear your country's song being played. That's when your emotions really come out because you really reflect on the journey.

"We talked about it on the bus ride over [for practice yesterday]. We are not going to shy away from our sensitivity. We know Melo is going to cry. We're not shying away from it. We know it's going to be a great moment, but we know we still have a job to do to get that moment."

The US squad at the 2004 Olympics was inexperienced, and had chemistry problems and issues with coach Larry Brown. This year's team is a happy bunch of players who seem to get along great with coach Mike Krzyzewski and each other. The players have often attended Olympic events together and are extremely close knit. Krzyzewski said he has had no problems with any of them.

The bond the team has is one reason why returning to play in the Olympics is appealing to some, regardless of today's outcome.

"If we were at home, we'd probably all be together anyway," Paul said. "Here, we are together and doing what we love, playing basketball and representing USA. We have an opportunity to win the gold medal."

Anthony, who plays for the underachieving Nuggets, said, "I wish I can take this team back. After this, I have to go back to reality."

The Americans have been together in China for about a month now and spent seven days in Las Vegas for training camp. USA Basketball brought its own chefs to cook for the team, and Bryant even brought a barber. The players will return home tomorrow on a lengthy charter flight to Minneapolis before going their separate ways.

But in four years, the US team could be in London in half the time it takes to get to Beijing. A flight from New York's Kennedy Airport to London Heathrow is about seven hours. And it will be much easier to get around in Great Britain, since English is the primary language and the NBA isn't nearly as popular there as it is in China.

"London? Everybody wants to go to London," Anthony said. "It will be different going into London than it is coming into here. Hopefully, we'll have a gold medal from this year and we'll go there champions of the world. It will be totally different. Than we'll all have more years in the NBA."

Said Williams, "It will be probably an easier city to adjust, too."

The US is expected to have a new coach for 2012, with an early possibility being US assistant and Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni. Veteran guard Jason Kidd, 35, is playing in his last Olympics, while Michael Redd (29), Tayshaun Prince (28), and Carlos Boozer (26) will be in their early 30s and unlikely to be back. Although Bryant would be 34, he is the world's most popular NBA player and said he would return if asked.

Anthony, Bosh, Howard, Paul, and Williams have all said they want to play in London. The big question marks are James and Wade, who like Anthony would be playing in their third Olympics. Winning a gold medal today could make going through the three-year process again less appealing for James and Wade.

James and Wade, however, aren't ready to make a decision.

"I don't know," James said. "Right now, you look at 2012 being so far away. I'm so focused on what's going on right here I don't know what my future holds with the Olympics or Team USA."

Said Wade, "That would be something we can talk about later. I'm really focused on '08; 2012 is so far away from here. I haven't really thought about it at all."

Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com