USA Basketball wanted Cade Cunningham to join the World Cup roster this summer, sources told Marc Stein of Substack.

Cunningham, who had season-ending surgery in December, instead joined the Select Team. 

Cunningham admitted that his recovery and load management lead him to turn down a spot with Team USA.

“I wanted to dedicate my summer to really make sure that as an individual, I was ready for the season coming up physically and mentally. I think that was really the deciding factor. I didn’t want to join the Team USA World Cup team and still have to go to rehab and not fully be a part of everything that was going on," Cunningham told The Athletic.