There’s been a lot of speculation regarding Jamal Murray‘s spotty minutes for Team Canada, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.
After attending to a personal matter, Murray didn’t dress for Canada’s game against France and played just seven minutes against Puerto Rico. It’s anticipated he’ll play about twice as much during Canada’s scrimmage against Brazil on Wednesday.
The slow ramp-up has led to rumors that Murray is dealing with an injury or that some other factor is limiting his participation. Team Canada achieved a World Cup bronze last summer without Murray, so it remains to be seen how he’ll impact this year’s squad.
- While LeBron James has been named a flag bearer for the United States and Giannis Antetokounmpo will carry the Greek flag, another NBA player will have that honor for Germany. Dennis Schröder and Anna-Maria Wagner (judo) will carry the German flag during the opening ceremonies on Friday in Paris, according to a tweet from the German Olympic Committee.
- It’s no surprise that Team USA and Team Canada are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt’s Olympic men’s basketball power rankings. France, Germany and Serbia round out the top five in the 12-team event.
- In case you missed it, Team USA coach Steve Kerr said there are no plans to replace Kevin Durant on the roster. Durant didn’t play in any exhibition games due to a calf strain.
Probably also has to do with the nuggets not giving him that extension till after the Olympics. Doesn’t want to blow a bag
I thought the nuggets had offered the extension… he just hasn’t signed it yet?
Nope, nuggets are waiting til after the Olympics.
Its actually funny how many hype pieces came out about Lebron carrying the flag, like its a huge deal and a big part of his legacy, but then you got Dennis Schröder doing the same thing for Germany…
It is a big thing for them, only one athlete per country gets to do it every four year (ok, two per country these days). Are we surprised the American media are not dedicating much coverage to the flag bearer for Germany? There were several pieces about Giannis. Pretty sure Dennis will be proud of this role.
Not everything around Lebron needs criticism at all times. If Lebron had played these exhibition games as poorly and uninterested as Steph he would have been crucified. Instead he saved both games and was one of the very with maximum effort.