BEIJING – New York may not be the only city on LeBron James’ radar when he becomes a free agent in 2010. The Cavs star said yesterday he would consider playing in Europe instead of the NBA.

“You never know,” said James, a member of the U.S. Olympic basketball team.

“One thing I don’t do is throw all my eggs in one basket. There’s a lot of opportunities. There’s going to be a lot of opportunities for me in 2010 to decide if I want to stay with Cleveland or go elsewhere. Did I ever imagine it? No. Is it a possibility? Yes.”

There is a developing trend of NBA stars fleeing overseas for bigger money, less taxes and more perks.

Josh Childress walked away from the Atlanta Hawks to sign a three-year deal with Greek club Olympiakos worth $20 million. Nenad Krstic, Boki Nachbar, Earl Boykins, Carlos Arroyo, Carlos Delfino and Jorge Garbajosa have all bolted for Europe.

It’s unlikely a star of James’ magnitude would ever leave the NBA and American marketing money, but no one is closing the door.

“The way things look I think teams from overseas are going to start going after stars of the NBA,” Utah star Carlos Boozer said. “As businessmen, we definitely have to look at it.”

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The United States box ing team lost one of its top medal hopes yesterday when bantamweight Gary Russell Jr. collapsed while trying to make weight. He immediately withdrew from the Olympics.

Russell was found unconscious by his roommate early yesterday morning. He was severely dehydrated after trying to make the 119-pound weight limit.

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Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni is here as an assistant for Team USA, but that doesn’t mean he’s unaware of the big story back home that the Jets landed Brett Favre.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “The whole thing played out interesting. I’m living in New York now, so every Sunday I’ll be able to watch him. It’s fantastic.”

When asked if Favre’s arrival might ease some of the pressure on him in his first year in New York he said: “Yeah right, wait until November 1.”