(
)
LAS VEGAS — Carmelo Anthony will be 32 years old in 2016. He isn’t sure yet whether he wants to play in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. But his road to Rio may be blocked.
NBA commissioner David Stern may not give Anthony — or any of the 12 men currently on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team — a choice if his master plan is accepted by FIBA, changing the men’s Olympic basketball tournament into a 23-and-under event. The idea is to save the NBA’s big guns for what’s known now as the World Championships but would be changed to the World Cup.
According to industry sources, Stern’s plan boils down to money. He believes the NBA can make the new basketball World Cup a bigger revenue-maker for the league than the Olympics have been.
The only U.S. player currently on an NBA roster who would still be eligible in 2016 is Hornets center Anthony Davis. The top pick in last month’s draft may be Blake Griffin’s injury replacement this summer.
“I think [Olympic eligibility] should stay the same,’’ Anthony told The Post. “I don’t feel no reason to change it. I think over the last eight to 10 years, what we did with USA Basketball, how we roll it, it shouldn’t matter how old you are. We still got older guys who want to play.
“It should be up to the individual. If they feel like they want to take the opportunity to represent their country, they should do that, regardless how old you are. I’m against it.’’
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been the most outspoken about ditching the Olympics, making no bones he sees the International Olympic Committee as profit-mongers. Stern said during last month’s NBA Finals that Cuban isn’t so off base in his dislike for the current system. It’s all about money.
In an email to The Post this week, Cuban wrote, “The Olympics are an incredibly well-branded event. They have convinced us that they are an altruistic competition that allows nations to take pride in the performance of our greatest athletes. … The reality is the Olympics are one of the most profitable endeavors in sports whose apparent goal is purely to enrich its operators.
“There are far better and fairer ways to hold international competitions. Soccer’s World Cup is one very successful model that the NBA and others can replicate that would allow the stakeholders, investors and athletes to benefit rather than the IOC.’’
Stern said during the NBA Finals, “Usually when Mark says something, I try to go the other way, but actually when he is right about something, he may actually be right.’’
The majority of current Team USA players, including Knicks center Tyson Chandler, are making their Olympic debuts. They aren’t playing in the Olympics for the money.
“I think all NBA players should always be able to play,’’ Chandler said. “I feel like you should always be able to represent your country and play the game. We all love to represent our country this way. It is a great honor. If [23-and-under] was the case, I would never have been able to play in the Olympics and it’s a huge honor.’’
At the Finals, NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver, who likely will be commissioner in 2016, said the concept is about making basketball’s World Cup into “the classic global soccer model.’’
“We think international soccer has an excellent model, the World Cup of football, which is the biggest sporting event in the world every four years,’’ Silver said.
He noted “in the off years,’’ Olympic soccer fills its squads with 23-and-under clubs.
One argument in Stern’s and Silver’s favor is the Olympics will still be just as popular without LeBron James, Anthony and Kevin Durant in Rio. But the much-less visible World Championships need a boost.
Stern also believes too much pressure is on NBA players to compete in the Olympics.
“I think it’s appropriate to step back and take stock of where we’re going,’’ the commissioner said. “And I do have some great deal of sympathy for those teams whose players grow up in a way that says, ‘I will play under any circumstance for my country, regardless of the injury to me and the threat to my career.’ Maybe those players are put under enormous pressure to play for their homeland, and perhaps an age limitation would remove some of the pressure from them.’’
That argument seems empty since the same pressure could also be redistributed to the future U.S. World Cup team.
Ex-Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, a longtime Team USA assistant, said the debate is a healthy one.
“We’ll talk, discuss and look,’’ D’Antoni said. “As long as everyone’s on the same playing fields, whatever is best for sport is great. The problem was when we were under 21 and they were professionals. But if everybody’s doing the same, whatever it is, it will be a great competition. I love this. I like this completion, but if it’s better for the sport and players, then it’s great [to change].’’
USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said discussions with FIBA will step up after the London Games.
“Commissioner Stern and I have had a lot of discussions about it, but it’s a long way from saying we’re going to do that and actually getting there,’’ Colangelo said. “It’s very political in nature. FIBA, [the] international ruling body in basketball, has to make sure they can really put on a World Cup in the sense that it can compete with the World Cup in soccer. My attitude is let’s talk after London. After London, I’m happy to sit down and talk about the pros and cons and what that means.’’
Griffin could be the current player most affected. His lone shot at the Olympics could have come and gone when he suffered a knee injury in Wednesday’s scrimmage and returned to Los Angeles for tests. He’s expected to miss the trip to London and in four years, he will be too old if the 2016 team is stocked mostly with the elite of the NBA’s three most-recent draft classes.
Before Wednesday’s practice, Griffin said, “In every sport, there’s not an age limit. I don’t understand it personally. If that’s what they do, I’m glad I got this opportunity.’’
marc.berman@nypost.com