Post-Olympics syndrome lurks.(Chicago Tribune)

CHICAGO _ Historically, U.S. team members have struggled the following NBA season The hope is Alonzo Mourning, ruled out indefinitely with an undisclosed kidney ailment, is only suffering from some serious form of exhaustion or a virus and can return to the Miami Heat by the beginning of the season in full health.

But the likelihood is we'll be reading more about the United States' men's Olympic basketball team this NBA season, and the news won't be golden.

The strain from a summer playing with the Olympic team has had an effect on almost all the players from the previous teams. Even the mightiest players, such as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, felt the effects. The 1992-93 Bulls team, which followed the only true Dream Team's victory in the 1992 Olympics, was the worst of the six champion Bulls teams. It was the only one to win less than 60 games and, unlike the other championship teams, struggled through the regular season.

"That's true," says then-Bulls and now Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who isn't at …