And Carlos Boozer is good with that.

Like his Olympic teammates, the Jazz forward stood behind James on Thursday, after learning about his assurance in the magazine that is expected to hit newsstands today.

"It's great," Boozer said. "He's one of our leaders on this team, and for the rest of us, we all believe that we're going to win the gold medal. So for him to go out there and say that puts pressure on us to continue to compete at a high level, and we look forward to that."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski hadn't heard about the guarantee - James never actually used the g-word in the article - but hardly blinked when informed by reporters.

"That's good," Krzyzewski said. "I hope he's right. The thing is, if I guarantee it, then I can't back it up.

He has the ability to back it up. If he said it, then that's our goal."

Forward Carmelo Anthony famously guaranteed gold for Team USA at the 2004 Athens Games, only to manage just bronze.

"I don't understand the big thing about guaranteeing gold," guard Dwyane Wade said. "We've all said that our mission and our goal is to win the gold."

mcl@sltrib.com