The New York Post is reporting that Richard Jefferson has been selected to replace Vince Carter on the U.S. Olympic Team, beating out the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire in the process.

The news comes at a time when Jefferson was in the headlines for negative reasons.  Jefferson, partly angry after a defeat and partly tired, questioned the wisdom of playing heavy minutes back-to-back in what was an apparent meaningless game. So Nets coach Lawrence Frank spoke with his young and talented star yesterday.

"I speak to Richard constantly, mainly about his minutes and there are absolutely no issues," Frank said the day after Jefferson spoke up after a 90-80 defeat in Indiana. "We are on the same page. Richard told me that 'If I said it like that, I apologize.' We spoke about it. It's no big deal. It's a total non-issue."

Jefferson was a member of the U.S. qualifying team that competed in Puerto Rico last summer, and although his role was limited he insisted he wanted to return even if it meant playing less time.

In addition to the most overpowering concern of their own health, the Nets are trying to determine how to prepare for one of three teams. It looks like the Knicks. But it could be the Celtics. Or the Hornets.

"You have to prepare for all the scenarios," admitted Frank. "Sure, you could be spinning your wheels but you want to have your work all done when it's time to go . . . We just do what's just normal at this time of the year, as we've done in the past. We have two video coordinators [so] we break down and prepare for all possibilities in terms of films. We traditionally watch all of our games against their team, plus their last five or six games and we just have it broken down in a certain way."