Hey, Shaq, Uncle Sam needs you.

No one at USA Basketball, on the selection committee, and probably at the highest levels of government, wants to take any chances on letting an Olympic gold medal slip away in Athens.

The Americans almost certainly will win without Shaquille O'Neal. With him, the word ``almost'' drops out of the sentence.

If Kevin Garnett signs up, too, the 12th spot could go to a bobblehead doll and the Americans would be unbeatable.

LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony or any of the other NBA players under consideration for the last spot would make Team USA ridiculously unbeatable.

That's exactly the way Americans like it.

O'Neal and Garnett have been asked to join a U.S. Olympic team that already has Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Jermaine O'Neal, Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady, Karl Malone, Ray Allen and Mike Bibby.

Even with a question mark about Bryant, who could be on trial in Colorado on the sexual assault charges against him, that is one powerful lineup.

What it lacks is the dominating center. Duncan and Jermaine O'Neal could fill in well, but they would fit in much better as power forwards complementing Shaq with their inside-outside games.

``They are asking me,'' Shaq said Wednesday night. ``I haven't decided yet.''

He has been waffling about the Olympic team all season, and seemed to pull the plug on the idea at the All-Star game. But now the selection committee is sending out its formal invitation to him and Garnett, and wants an answer within two weeks. It plans to make the final pick by mid-April. Training camp opens July 26 and the team plays its first game of the Olympics on Aug. 15.

If O'Neal sits this one out, China would have the best and most natural big man, Yao Ming. Other teams laden with pro players _ Lithuania, Argentina, Serbia, Spain, Australia and Puerto Rico _ would represent threats.

That's not a prospect the U.S. team or the NBA relish.

Americans look at the men's basketball gold as a birthright to the nation that grew the game since the days when James Naismith set his peach baskets on the gym wall. It is one of the few near certainties in sports, like a Harlem Globetrotters victory or a collapse by the Chicago Cubs.

The U.S. record at the Olympics is 109-2. Few of the wins are as vivid in memory as the two losses.

The first was a heist, the second a miscalculation.

In 1972, officials played the final seconds three times until an apparent U.S. victory turned into a gold for the Soviet Union. In 1988, a squad of American college stars was too green to cope with an older, pro-level Soviet team that had been together much longer.

Losing could not be tolerated and that second defeat set in motion the arrival of NBA players and the creation of the original Dream Team.

Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin and John Stockton were as sure a bet in Barcelona as the sun rising and setting each day.

Since the international basketball federation cleared the way for NBA players to be eligible, the United States has gone 24-0 and has won the last three golds in 1992, 1996 (with Shaq) and 2000 (with Garnett).

But the world has been catching up with the Americans on the court. In 2002 at the world championships, Serbia, Argentina and Spain beat a U.S. team with NBA players. In a semifinal game at the 2000 Olympics, the United States beat the Lithuanians by only two points after they missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won it.

``People don't believe it until they see it, but the competition internationally has gotten very close,'' Craig Miller of USA Basketball said.

Rebounds would be scarce for other teams if Shaq and Garnett play together up front with Duncan and Jermaine O'Neal. No one would have a better backcourt than Kidd paired with Bryant or Iverson. And no one would have more versatility all around than the Americans if James or Anthony are on the roster.

Malone would like to see Shaq join him on the team. But the 40-year-old Malone isn't even sure about himself, as much as he would like to play one last time.

``I don't want to go over there with any nagging injuries and reaggravate them,'' Malone said before helping the Lakers to a victory over the Clippers Wednesday night. ``My whole thing is I've got to get injury-free before I can think about the Olympics. They realize that as well. I don't want to jeopardize my health to be on the team. That's not helping anybody.''

Asked how close he is to 100 percent, Malone replied: ``Not that far away. I'm not where I want to be yet. It'll come.''

He had a credible 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists in his fourth game since missing nearly three months with a knee injury. Lakers coach Phil Jackson isn't worried about Malone playing this summer.

``For Karl, he's a bionic man. He can stay in shape,'' Jackson said. ``For Shaq, it might not be the best idea.''

Maybe not, but no one can blame USA Basketball for trying to guarantee a gold.

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Steve Wilstein is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at swilstein(at)ap.org