After spearheading the journey to a long-awaited Olympic gold medal in Beijing last summer, Jerry Colangelo recently decided that he will be back with USA Basketball. He will now oversee all of the men's and women's programs after his recent appointment to the chair of USA Basketball's board of directors.

Persuading his key players from the Beijing squad to return for the 2012 London Olympics, however, could be a challenge.

"My connection with staying with the game is USA Basketball," Colangelo said. "I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the camaraderie. It was a great experience.

"It's one thing to climb the hill and now it's another thing to defend. There is some joy in doing that. This additional duty as chairman is to lift the bar for all of the teams. It's a passion."

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Carlos Boozer have all played in two Olympics. Kobe Bryant will be 34 in 2012. Chris Paul and Chris Bosh have played on the last three US teams.

According to Colangelo, three-quarters of the players said after the Olympics that they wanted to return for London. However, he understands that those statements were made at an emotional time, when the Americans had won their first gold medal in eight years.

"There is no timetable here," said Colangelo. "I will see a lot of them at the All-Star Game in Phoenix. We'll have plenty of time to talk."

Asked if he would play in the 2012 Olympics, Anthony said, "I don't know if I'll play. I'll be 28."

The fact that London is closer to the United States than Beijing could help Colangelo's cause. Anthony also said that not having to make a three-year commitment is a factor among the aging US stars.

"If guys can just come and just play, I think that would help," Anthony said.

Colangelo is hoping for a two-year plan. A gold medal in the 2010 World Championships would qualify the US for London.

While many Americans seem more impressed with an Olympic gold medal, the Basketball world is more impressed with a World Championships crown, which the US has not won since 1998.

"If you don't take care of business in 2010, shame on us," said Colangelo. "It's up to us to get the job done in '10."

USA Basketball won't compete next summer since it qualified for the World Championships by winning the Olympic gold. But Colangelo does plan on getting a group of 24 young players together for future development. A Select Team that included budding stars Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Al Horford, and Rodney Stuckey competed against the national team during training camp in Las Vegas. Celtics guard Rajon Rondo and center Kendrick Perkins, who was injured at the time, declined invitations to be on the Select Team but could be invited again.

If some of the Beijing stars don't come to London, Colangelo would have to add some of these budding stars.

"There is a short shelf life, for sure," said Colangelo, about his post-Olympic glow. "The moment was tremendous. The journey was great. It was a sense of accomplishment. I was very proud about how everyone conducted themselves and performed.

"We said it would be a great experience, and to a man I think that's how they felt it was. It was a great feeling, but that passes over time and you go on to what's next. That's life."

Getting in his head?

Knicks forward Quentin Richardson raised eyebrows after a 110-101 loss at Boston Nov. 18 by saying the Celtics "are the world champions and rah-rah-rah, but the tough part I don't factor. I come from a neighborhood where you can say what you want to say, but till you do something, it don't mean nothing. Some of those guys are happy to get a ring, but you ain't been in the league long enough to talk to people like that. I don't have a lot of respect for that." An NBA scout who worked that game, however, said Richardson told then-Knicks teammate Zach Randolph that his trash-talking helped him frustrate Paul Pierce mentally.

Free throws

An NBA executive said the Knicks are so concerned about rookie forward Danilo Gallinari's back problems that they have him working with a "super physical therapist" from England. The sixth overall pick in this year's draft, Gallinari injured his back during the Vegas Summer League and has played in only two games this season ... So where does all the money go when the Celtics are fined for technical fouls? To the Shamrock Foundation and other charities ... An NBA source said the disappointing Heat have been heating up their efforts to move four-time All-Star forward Shawn Marion, who is making $17.8 million in the final year of his contract.

Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com