(AP)LONDON – Before they ever finalized a roster to chase a gold medal in Beijing, USA Basketball officials delivered an unmistakable ultimatum to LeBron James: Unless you grow up, treat people with respect, and commit to taking this seriously, we'll leave you home for the 2008 Olympic Games. Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski wanted a culture of commitment and had come to believe that James' momentous talent couldn't overcome his impulses to instigate and infuriate everyone.

Perhaps Nike would've never let it happen, but James wisely decided against testing the limits of people's patience after his intolerable act in the 2004 Olympic and '06 world championships. Ultimately, James heeded the warnings, became a better teammate, blossomed into a fully dominant force and played marvelously in the 2008 Olympics. When the gold-medal game grew tightest in Beijing, James still showed a measure of reluctance, leaving Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade to deliver the biggest plays in the final

LONDON – After a pre-trade deadline telephone call when Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant hung up believing they could never co-exist as teammates, months and months passed and, still, the two superstars never spoke again. Howard wanted Bryant to tell him what the Lakers could do to elevate his offensive stature, and Bryant wanted Howard to tell him he was determined to come with a defensive and rebounding mindset to make the Lakers champions again.

Dwight Howard joins a star-filled Lakers lineup that includes Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash. (AP)The call ended poorly, and it wouldn't be long until Howard had turned toward a path of far less resistance with the Brooklyn Nets.

As much as anything, Howard was determined to stop marching down the path of Shaquille O'Neal: From No. 1 overall pick to ring-less Orlando Magic center to self-proclaimed Superman, comedian and goofball musician, there was a part of Howard that resisted the inevitable power play to also make him a Laker.

Nevertheless, Howard made a mess of an easy exit out of Orlando, obliterating his march into a

The Los Angeles Lakers have completed their blockbuster four-team trade to acquire Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Dwight Howard will become a free agent at the end of this season. (AP)

The teams finalized the trade on a call with NBA officials Friday afternoon.

[Also: Team USA rises above above rivals' cheap shots]

The Lakers will send All-Star center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers, who also will receive shooting guard Jason Richardson from the Magic. The Sixers will send guard Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets. The Magic will receive Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, rookie swingman Moe Harkless, forward Josh McRoberts, forward Christian Eyenga, a first-round pick from either the Nuggets or the New York Knicks in 2014, a protected first-round pick from the Sixers, a protected first-round pick from the Lakers in 2017, a second-round pick from the Nuggets in 2013 and a conditional second-rounder from the Lakers in 2015. In addition to Howard, the Lakers will also receive Earl Clark

Nigeria's Chamberlain Oguchi (9) (AP)LONDON – After leaving college basketball in 2009, Nigerian national team player Chamberlain Oguchi has been the ultimate basketball journeyman, bouncing from professional leagues in Lebanon, Venezuela, Mexico, and the Philippines. It seemed he would come and go out of these Olympic Games without much notice.

[ Related: Batum hits Navarro in the groin ]

That was before Oguchi scored 35 points in Nigeria's final preliminary round game, a 79-73 loss to France. Suddenly, several NBA teams are inviting him to training camp on nonguaranteed deals, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Several teams had front-office executives in London for the performance, where Oguchi made eight of his fourteen 3-point attempts. Most see value in the versatile 6-foot-6 swingman, who could be had on a rookie-scale contract.

Oguchi, 26, played high school basketball in Houston before enrolling at Oregon and Illinois State. He played 31 games for the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Developmental League in

LeBron James (back) and Team USA have been model citizens on and off the court in London. (Reuters)

"I wanted to make sure he had good reason to flop," Batum said.

Asked if he believed he had accomplished his goal, Batum told Yahoo! Sports with a smile, "I hope so."

Batum was pleased with himself. In the wake of a 66-59 loss, he stood and declared publicly what France and several rivals had been privately saying: Spain let itself lose to Brazil in the preliminaries to spare themselves a meeting with the United States until the gold-medal game. Batum wouldn't have dared behaved this way in the NBA, but anything goes with FIBA. So much so, in fact, Batum rejected the idea that a punch to a

LONDON – After France's Nicolas Batum delivered a vicious punch to the groin of Spain guard Juan Carlos Navarro, Batum left no confusion over his intentions.

"I wanted to give him a good reason to flop," Batum said.

Batum was angry with the Spanish guards for falling to the floor for what he believed was incidental contact throughout Spain's 66-59 quarterfinal victory over France at North Greenwich Arena.

Asked by Yahoo! Sports if he believed his punch to the groin had given Navarro "good reason," Batum smiled and said, "I hope so."

[ Photos: Team USA goes for Olympic gold ]

France's coaches and several players believed Spain intentionally lost a final preliminary round game  Monday in which Spain blew a 12-point fourth quarter lead to Brazil. The loss allowed Spain to face France in the quarterfinals, and would potentially keep it away from the powerful United States until the gold-medal game.

Asked if he was convinced that Spain had taken a dive in the fourth quarter

Vitaliy Fridzon and Matt Dellavedova during the preliminary round. (Getty Images)LONDON --- Before the emperor of basketball makes an entrance with his security detail and wing-tipped yes men into the arena here, David Stern should have taken a good long look at an old grudge quarterfinals game between Russia and Lithuania. As the NBA tries to play God on Olympic basketball, pushing FIBA to legislate change that will render this magnificent spectacle irrelevant, Stern should be forced to confront the collateral damage of his failing movement.

“I would hope that the countries would be in an uproar about this,” Russia coach David Blatt told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday  “Who is one country to determine for everyone how international basketball should be played, and particularly how the Olympic Games should be managed? It’s not supposed to be like that. If it’s a global game, it’s a global game.”

[ Photos: Team USA basketball goes for gold ]

Stern has been met with an increasing level of resistance about his and the NBA owners’ desires to turn the Olympics into an

Carmelo Anthony grimaces after being punched in the groin against Argentina. (Reuters)

"Campazzo got hit in the [groin], too" Argentina's Luis Scola said. "That stuff happens."

The United States had turned a tight game into a blowout, and restraint no longer resonated within the Argentina guard's mind when Anthony unleashed one more 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter. Searching for retribution, Campazzo found Anthony an easy target on the release of his statuesque jump shot.

"Because before, Chris Paul punched me," Campazzo said.

Anthony