2024 Olympics

And-Ones: Brooks, Too-Early Preseason Takes, Sneed, Exum

July 29th, 2024 at 9:33pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Dillon Brooks is continuing his impressive FIBA streak, helping lead Canada to an 86-79 win over Greece in his team’s Olympic opener. Brooks, who made a trio of three-pointers in the win, also had an impressive 2023 World Cup, averaging 15.1 points per game en route to a bronze medal.

As Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews writes, Brooks pushes himself to another level in international play.

“I like to play for my country; it gives me a lot of passion to do so,” Brooks said. “For the game itself, you have to be 40 minutes attentive to detail. All those things add a lot more to a player, and I like the ball as well.”

Brooks also impressed on defense alongside Thunder wing Luguentz Dort. According to Urbonas, when that duo shared the floor, Canada outscored Greece by 23 points.

“I’m really proud of Dillon,” national team coach Jordi Fernandez said. “This is how it looks when they let Dillon Brooks play. And it’s just not about the defensive end. With Lu Dort, he’s the best perimeter in the World Cup. But he’s extremely efficient offensively.”

Brooks said he didn’t care if his international play changed how NBA fans felt about him.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic share the honor of having the same odds for Most Valuable Player next season, but Anthony Edwards is a dark horse, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes. Zach Edey is currently the favorite for Rookie of the Year over top-two picks Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr, but Cody Williams is a player Jones believes may be getting overlooked. Jones talks through all the major awards, as well as some teams he does or doesn’t believe in.
Former NBAer Xavier Sneed signed with Bnei Herzliya Basket, a team in Israel, the club relays in a release (Twitter link). Sneed played 13 games across two seasons (2021-23) on two-way or 10-day contracts with the Hornets, Grizzlies and Jazz. He’s scored 22 points in 87 total minutes at the NBA level.
As we relayed Sunday, Australian guard Dante Exum seemed to be nearing a return from a right index finger injury. Boomers coach Brian Goorjan confirmed as much, stating that he expects Exum to return on Tuesday vs. Canada, according to Fox Sports’ Matt Logue (Twitter link).

Team USA Notes: Ceiling, Serbia Win Takeaways, Embiid, Holiday, White

July 29th, 2024 at 5:34pm CST by Tristan Tucker

On paper, the U.S. Olympic men’s team looks like one of the best collections of talent since 1992, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon writes while pondering the team’s upside.

“I don’t know if Magic, Michael and Larry, if they coined that [nickname] themselves and walked around calling themselves the Dream Team or if that was the nickname that fans and media gave them, [but] I feel like we’re going to have the same vibe,” Stephen Curry said of how this year’s team compares to the Dream Team.

The Americans certainly looked the part in their blowout win over Serbia on Sunday, but it wasn’t smooth sailing up to that point. The U.S. almost lost to Germany and South Sudan in consecutive exhibition games. As Vardon writes, it’s a testament to how the talent around the world has grown. When the 1992 team competed, only nine other players outside of the U.S. team were in the NBA. This year, an Olympic-record 47 athletes are in the NBA and 35 more have at least some league experience.

“It’s the strongest field ever,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “The game gets better and better globally, more and more NBA players, but also teams are more and more comfortable playing against us, and so we know that every game’s going to be difficult and we have to prepare for that and be ready because these teams are coming after us.”

While the Americans look like the favorite for the gold medal, Vardon cautions that it’s far from a guarantee. In a similar piece, The Ringer’s Michael Pina writes that Team USA’s low three-point rate is seemingly one of the team’s only weaknesses.

We have more from the U.S. Olympic team:

Kevin Durant‘s near-perfect game against Serbia highlighted their 110-84 win. LeBron James‘ 23-point, nine-assist and seven-rebound game showed that the U.S. team should continue to rely on its older guys, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes in a takeaways piece from the first game. Jones also contemplates whether Joel Embiid should continue to start, writing that Kerr may simply just like the effective frontcourt pairing of Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis off the bench. Jones also observes Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton picking up DNPs in the first game and ponders if Kerr’s rotation choices will be consistent or fluctuate on a matchup basis.
Embiid had a rough showing in his first official Team USA outing, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. He finished with four points and two rebounds in just over 11 minutes and didn’t seem 100%. His decision to play for Team USA over France earned him boos from the crowd in Paris and Sielski wonders — even if he was hampered with an injury or illness — if adapting his game benefits either him or his team. Embiid is one of the best players in the world but he has always been the featured player on his teams and may be taking more of a backseat on the Olympic squad, Sielski writes.
Jrue Holiday and Derrick White played similar roles in the team’s first game as they do for the reigning-champion Celtics, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes. Both players complement star-filled rosters on either team and often take the task of guarding the opposing team’s best player. “It makes it easy for me and Jrue,” White said. “We just try to go out there and do what we do and try to help us impact winning whenever we can. I know we’ve got a lot of talented guys on the team.”

Kerr: Tatum Will Play On Wednesday For Team USA

July 29th, 2024 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, an All-NBA first-teamer for each of the past three seasons, was a surprise DNP-CD in Team USA’s pool-play victory over Serbia on Sunday, joining Tyrese Haliburton as the only two players on the 12-man roster who didn’t see the court.

Keeping Tatum on the bench isn’t the plan going forward, however, according to head coach Steve Kerr, who told reporters on Monday that the Celtics star will be part of the rotation on Wednesday vs. South Sudan.

“Jayson will play (on Wednesday),” Kerr said, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “I’m not going to answer your next question, which is if he plays, who doesn’t. But we’re going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready, because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens.”

A few factors contributed to Tatum’s DNP-CD on Sunday. Kevin Durant returned from his calf strain and looked like the best player on the court for much of his 16:44 of action. Kerr also leaned heavily on his big men against a strong Serbian frontcourt led by Nikola Jokic, with Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, and Joel Embiid all seeing playing time. Additionally, Derrick White, viewed as the 12th man on the roster, saw nearly 16 minutes of action in order to match up defensively with Serbia’s talented backcourt.

“The hardest part of this job is you’re sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth,” Kerr said. “On one hand, it makes no sense at all. On the other, I’m asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like (Sunday) night those were the combinations that made the most sense.”

As Windhorst points out, Tatum should be a better fit against a South Sudan roster that features more athleticism and spreads the floor with three-point shooters.

“With South Sudan, it’s more about the speed, and speed is a killer,” Kerr said. “You have to be prepared for everything, and that means we need everybody.”

International Notes: Olympics, Sneaker Deals, Wemby, Exum, Birch

July 28th, 2024 at 9:15pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Thirteen of the top 20 highest earners in the Paris Olympics are NBA players, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico. They aren’t paid to play by the NBA or any Olympic committee, but players earn money through their shoe contracts from companies like Nike or Under Armour.

Sneaker companies have bonuses for games played in the Olympics because players using them are putting their products on a global stage. Adidas, for example, earns 76% of its revenue outside of North America.

Nike has a major presence in the Olympics since they’re a longtime sponsor of USA Basketball. Converse, a Nike-owned brand, recently extended Canadian star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and expects to launch his signature shoe in 2025. He was named creative director as part of the deal.

Countries can also shell out money for performance incentives. For example, Serbia has one of the largest gold medal bonuses for players, meaning Nikola Jokic would be eligible for $215K if Serbia were to win gold.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Victor Wembanyama has become the face of French basketball at a young age and he’s carried that into the Olympics in his home country, Andrew Lopez of ESPN writes. France lost by five points in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 without Wembanyama and took home its first silver medal since 2000. Now, with him on board, the host country is aiming to take home the gold in 2024.
Mavericks guard Dante Exum is returning from a right index finger injury and missed Australia’s Olympic game against Spain. However, according to Sportando, there is “growing optimism” about Exum’s return for his country’s game against Canada on Tuesday.
Former NBAer Khem Birch served as an “insider” for Canada’s win against Greece since he played for Greek club Olympiacos, according to Eurohoops.net. “It’s definitely gold or nothing,” Birch said of Canada’s Olympic chances. “That’s the number one goal. I think we have a lot of parity in the Olympics right now. I think anyone can win it. so we have a big chance.”

Kevin Durant Discusses Olympic Return, Opener Performance

July 28th, 2024 at 7:03pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Suns and Team USA forward Kevin Durant made his return to the U.S. Olympic team after missing the exhibition slate of games with a calf injury. He impressed right away, scoring 23 points while making eight of his nine shot attempts in under 17 minutes of play on Sunday, as detailed by Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr planned on easing Durant in the rotation, but the star forward forced Kerr’s hand with his strong play. He scored five three-pointers in the first half and didn’t miss a shot until the fourth quarter. The Americans defeated Serbia 110-84.

Durant opened up about his return, including how he felt after his outstanding game.

“I was tired, I’m not gonna lie to you,” Durant said after the game. “My lungs were getting used to that, the intensity of the game, but it felt good to make some shots. I think everybody played their role pretty well tonight. My role was to come and provide spacing and shot making for the team and glad I was able to knock them down.”

Below are more highlights from Durant’s comments to reporters, as gathered by The Athletic’s Sam Amick and BasketNews.

On coming off the bench in the Olympic opener:

“I’ve [come off the bench] a couple of times in the NBA — three times. That’s enough for me to just kind of lean on those times. You know, that’s what I thought about as I was coming in, just staying ready mentally, staying focused on what the game plan is. And when I come in, don’t make the game about myself. Try to add to the team. And tonight I was able to [do that].

“I told Coach [Kerr], whatever he needs from me, I’m willing to do anything and adapt to anything. So it’s always been fun trying to figure out new roles and just adapt to whatever the game tells you to do.”

On having LeBron James back on the Olympic Team:

“I’m so grateful to have him back. We missed him in the last two Olympics. He puts fear in the other team. I think that goes a long way, the psyche of the game, so he’s running downhill, making the right plays on the offense and defensive end. He’s just insane, and I’m glad he’s on our team.”

On whether today’s win is the best game Team USA has played this summer:

“I just think all of those games and those practices leading up until today prepared us. Coach has been doing a great job of keeping us on our toes and letting us know how important each day is, so we try to come together pretty quickly I think the beauty of tonight is we played a lot of random basketball on the offensive side.

“Defensively, we were talking to one another throughout the whole game, so that communication and that random basketball made us tough to stop. So we continue to build on this and see where we can go.”

On playing in front of fans and how it compares to the Tokyo Olympics that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic:

“[It was] incredible. 27,000 [fans]. I looked around, and I saw so many different NBA jerseys in the stands. I just love when the game of basketball can bring people from all over the world, different walks of life together like this. [Tokyo] seems like so long ago. The era of the world seems like it was just 20 years ago, and also to see so many people in here supporting the game of basketball.”

Olympic Notes: Embiid, Ivey, Jones, Tatum

July 28th, 2024 at 3:13pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Seven-time All-Star Sixers center Joel Embiid had a major decision to make ahead of his 2024 Olympics debut. The big man was born in Cameroon, holds French citizenship, and of course had the option to make a stacked Team USA even more loaded, writes Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Having a family here and living here half of my life… it made sense,” Embiid explained to reporters while Team USA prepared for the Olympics in Las Vegas.

Former Sixers head coach Brett Brown told Sielski that he sometimes talked to Embiid about the Olympics during his time in Philadelphia and thought the star center might want a chance to display his greatness by going up against the U.S. on an international stage.

“Then all of a sudden, you could feel like the U.S. having a chance to be an option,” Brown said. “Previously, I did not think that. I think what’s happened over time is that he well and truly sees himself as the United States being his home.”

There’s more from the Olympics:

After beating Puerto Rico 90-79 for the first Olympic victory in his country’s history, South Sudan head coach Royal Ivey has been reveling in the moment, per Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. “This is a movie, my life is a movie right now,” Ivey said. “Being in the Olympics, and getting our first win, I’m proud of my players, one through 12, everybody contributed. This is so, so real, I couldn’t experience anything better than this. And I’m so thankful for the opportunity, I thank you all, and I thank my coaching staff, [South Sudan Basketball Federation president] Luol Deng, everyone.” Ivey is currently a Rockets assistant coach.
South Sudan point guard Carlik Jones powered the club to its victory over Puerto Rico, notching 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, Barkas writes in another piece. During the team’s Olympics opening-night presentation, Sudan’s national anthem was played instead of South Sudan’s. South Sudan separated from Sudan as its own country in 2011. “I’ll say it added more fuel to the fire,” Jones said. “I feel like a lot of people don’t think we belong. A lot of people think that we don’t deserve to be here. But if you ask me, I think we have every right to be here. And, you know, we’re confident. We’re confident in the team. We’re confident in what we’ve done so far. And we just know we’ve got to keep going.”
During Team USA’s 110-84 victory over Team Serbia in its first game of the Paris Olympics, head coach Steve Kerr did not play All-NBA Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum for a single second. Tatum confirmed to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that he was not injured or sick (Twitter link). Speaking post-game, Kerr explained his decision to make Tatum a healthy scratch, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “It’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys,” Kerr said. All-NBA Suns power forward Kevin Durant, who had missed all five of Team USA’s exhibition games with a calf injury, returned to the lineup and seemingly absorbed Tatum’s minutes off the bench. He scored 23 points while shooting 8-of-9 from the floor across a scant 17 minutes. “With Kevin coming back, I just went to the combinations that I felt made the most sense,” Kerr added. “It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these are the lineups I wanted to get to.”

Kevin Durant Available For Team USA’s First Game

July 28th, 2024 at 9:55am CST by Arthur Hill

After missing the entire exhibition slate due to a strained right calf, Kevin Durant has been cleared for Team USA’s Olympics opener today against Serbia, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Durant will be used off the bench, Charania adds (Twitter link).

Durant had been trending toward playing after being sidelined for several weeks with the injury. Head coach Steve Kerr said earlier this week that Durant’s status would be a mutual decision with input from the training staff, Durant’s representatives, Suns officials and Durant himself.

Durant was considered “day-to-day” for exhibition games Monday and Wednesday in London. He didn’t take the floor in either contest, with Kerr saying he preferred to see how Durant’s calf responded to back-to-back practices and a scrimmage.

Durant is hoping to become the first player to ever win four Olympic basketball gold medals. He led the team in scoring in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games and is the top scorer in U.S. Olympic men’s basketball history. He also captured gold in the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

After today’s opener, Team USA will face South Sudan on Wednesday and Puerto Rico on Saturday.

Olympic Notes: Wembanyama, SGA, Giddey, Landale, Team USA

July 27th, 2024 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Victor Wembanyama has already been through a lot of big moments in his basketball career, but the idea of playing in the Olympics in front of his home fans made him nervous, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. That may be why the 20-year-old star got off to a slow start in Saturday’s opener against Brazil, but France began to pull away as he worked through the jitters. Wembanyama finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks in his Olympics debut, and he has the French team looking like a legitimate contender for the gold medal.

“I think for the first time of his career, he was a little bit stressed,” coach Vincent Collet said. “… In France, everybody waits for him like — I don’t know which word to use, but everybody waits for him. You have the people who know basketball, and they understand he’s only 20 years old. But people that like sports but (who) don’t know basketball, they think Victor is already Michael Jordan. (But) take time. Take time.”

Amick notes that Wembanyama has already become a leader for France despite the presence of Nicolas Batum, Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, who have been with the national team for years. Batum said that along with Wembanyama’s obvious physical gifts, he has an IQ for the game that makes everything easier.

“He knows who he is. He knows what he has to do to be great,” Batum explained. “On one play, he was like, ‘OK, I’ll go to set a screen.’ I said, ‘No, no, no, no. Stay down there and take the ball and play. Take us home. That’s who you are right now.’ He’s not scared for the moment. He showed that in the first half.”

There’s more from the Olympics:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a huge basket down the stretch as Canada withstood a furious comeback by Greece and a 34-point performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo, per Domantas Urbonas of BasketNews. Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists, thought his team played well but needs to finish better. “We were the aggressors for most of the game. Especially in the first half, we were very good, we had the control of the game. I think we just closed the game a little bit better defensively,” he said. “Offensively, I think we got good looks down the stretch, just didn’t make them. Obviously, it’s never an excuse, you can always get stops and seal out the W in a nicer way.”
Josh Giddey and Jock Landale led the way as Australia opened the tournament with a win over Spain, observed Kane Pitman and Olgun Uluc of ESPN. They controlled the game with their chemistry in the pick-and-roll as Landale posted 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists to go with a +30 rating, while Giddey contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. “He’s got a fire about him,” teammate Nick Kay said of Landale. “You can see it in the warmups, you can see it every day at training. He’s really brought that to this group.”
Ahead of Sunday’s opener against Serbia, Rohan Nadkarni of NBC News examines how this year’s U.S. roster compares to the original “Dream Team” in 1992.

Olympic Notes: Team USA, Exum, Aldama, Theis, France

July 27th, 2024 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Team USA big men Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis have both missed practice time ahead of the club’s pool-play opener vs. Serbia on Sunday due to illnesses, while Kevin Durant was unable to suit up in any of the pre-Olympic exhibition games as a result of a calf strain. However, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes, head coach Steve Kerr expressed optimism on Saturday that none of his 12 players will be unavailable vs. Serbia.

“I’m confident we’ll have everybody ready (Sunday),” Kerr said.

The U.S. squad beat Serbia by 26 points earlier this month in Abu Dhabi, holding star center Nikola Jokic to 6-of-19 shooting in that game. But the Serbians were resting some key players, including Bogdan Bogdanovic. Team USA is prepared for a more competitive game on Sunday.

“Jokic, with what he’s able to do, obviously we know what he does at NBA, but maybe a little bit higher usage in the international game,” Davis said. “It’s going to be fun.”

Here are a few more notes on the Olympic tournament, which tipped off on Saturday:

NBA veterans like Josh Giddey and Jock Landale led Australia to a win over Spain on Saturday in the first Group A game, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops details. However, the Boomers were missing one notable NBAer, as Dante Exum was unavailable due to a compound dislocation of his finger. While at least one report has suggested Exum will miss multiple games, he hasn’t technically been ruled out for Tuesday’s contest vs. Canada yet and is working to return as soon as possible. “The biggest thing at the moment is trying to just let the wound heal because it was a compound dislocation,” he said (Twitter link via Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com). “So just making sure everything [is right], but I’ll put a ball in my hand tomorrow and see how it feels and go from there.”
Although Spain couldn’t pick up a win on Saturday, Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama was impressive in defeat, racking up 27 points and six three-pointers. As Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, those six threes represented a Spanish Olympic record.
Pelicans center Daniel Theis helped lead Germany to a win over Japan on Saturday with 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting. He suggested after the game that last year’s World Cup title puts a spotlight on the Germans in this year’s event. “I think we kind of got a target on our back. Everybody wanted to be the world champion,” Theis said, per Barkas of Eurohoops. “One of our biggest strengths is we never underestimate any opponent. We did not do it last year. We have not done it this year. Whoever we played, we never took anybody lightly. So we take everybody seriously, and that is a big strength for us.”
The top two picks in this year’s NBA draft are French, but neither Zaccharie Risacher nor Alex Sarr is representing France at this year’s Olympics. Marc J. Spears of Andscape takes a closer look at why the youngsters aren’t in Paris with the French national team this year and why they’re likely to be factors at the 2028 Olympics. France won its opener on Saturday over Brazil, with Victor Wembanyama and Nicolas Batum each scoring a game-high 19 points.

Team USA Notes: Kerr, Embiid, Durant, Booker, Curry

July 26th, 2024 at 9:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Team USA begins its quest for Olympic gold on Sunday against Serbia. Coach Steve Kerr says it’s time for his star-laden roster to ramp up mentally and physically after close calls against South Sudan and Germany in its last two exhibitions.

“So it’s got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can’t let teams outplay us effort- and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan,” Kerr said, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

After reviewing the recent exhibitions, Kerr wasn’t pleased with the overall effort, Sam Amick of The Athletic adds.

“(It’s) just effort and energy, play after play after play,” Kerr said. “This is different. This is not an 82-game season (like the NBA). They’re not going to play 125 games total with preseason and playoffs and all that. It’s literally six games. And watching the tape, we’re jogging through some possessions, not hitting bodies on box-outs. And so it’s time. It’s time to lock in on that. And as I said, that’s for all of us — coaches and players — to get to that point.”

We have more on Team USA:

Joel Embiid commented recently that people may overrate Team USA, asserting that their stars aren’t quite what they used to be. “Those names have been built throughout their career, and now they’re older,” Embiid said. Kevin Durant agrees with the notion to a certain extent, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “Of course, we’re older and we all have mileage on our bodies,” Durant said. “We figure out ways to be effective, just as Jo has as he’s gone through injuries.”
Devin Booker is playing in his second Olympics and Kerr considers him the perfect FIBA player, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic relays. “Book was great in Tokyo,” Kerr said. “He’s the perfect example of a guy who in an NBA game, he’s going to get 20 shots every night. In ’21 in Tokyo, he was more of a defender, ball mover, but did a great job and was one of our key players. That’s why he’s back here. We knew how much we needed him and I’m so impressed with Book’s ability to understand that and recognize the role change, but still hit the big shot and looking forward to a big moment. Book is a perfect FIBA guy.”
Durant didn’t play in any exhibition games due to a calf strain, though he has been practicing. His former Golden State teammate Stephen Curry anticipates their old chemistry hasn’t waned. “I think that familiarity only helps us take advantage of this experience,” Curry said, per Vardon.

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