The star-studded Team USA men’s basketball program bested Pelicans point guard Jose Alvarado and the rest of Team Puerto Rico 104-83 in their final game of Olympic pool play, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
“I never thought I would come to a city like this,” Suns All-Star Kevin Durant said after the win. “But Lille was incredible to us. I love being here.”
Durant has emerged as a critical bench scorer for the program. He is hoping to earn his fourth gold medal, which would be a new men’s basketball record.
When asked about the prospect of retirement, Durant’s 39-year-old returning teammate LeBron James seemed noncommittal. The 6’9″ Lakers All-Star is averaging 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists for Team USA thus far.
“I don’t get asked that much, to be honest,” James said. “Everyone expects me to play 10 more years for some odd reason.”
There’s more from Team USA:
- With the quarterfinal round of the Olympics set, the U.S. is not taking its Tuesday opponent, Brazil, for granted, Windhorst writes in another ESPN story. “They’re very physical,” Team USA head coach Steve Kerr said Sunday. “They’ve got a lot of really good shooters, and they just play hard. They compete play after play, so we’ll have to be ready for their physicality and their shooting, and we need to be on edge and ready for them because they’re not going to back down.” Windhorst notes that Warriors forward Gui Santos is the only current NBA player on Brazil’s roster, but the team boasts six others who previously played in the league: Marcelinho Huertas, Didi Louzada, Raul Neto, Bruno Caboclo, Maozinha Pereira, and Cristiano Felicio.
- Kerr does not plan to change Durant’s current bench role despite his productivity, he stated in an ESPN interview (YouTube video link). “If Kevin had been here from day one, chances are he would be starting,” Kerr said. “That was the plan coming in. But given that he missed all our friendlies and came in late, we had kind of established a lineup that we liked… There’s no plans on changing [his current role].”
- Kerr once again went out of his way to praise James, writes Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. “It’s just amazing to watch him,” Kerr said. “He loves the game so much. He loves the work. He loves his teammates. There’s an energy and a joy to LeBron that just sort of spreads through the locker room and so he’s obviously one of the very best all-time players but it’s it goes so far beyond one thing. It’s just everything, the whole package, he’s just brilliant.” James has emerged as the de facto leader for Team USA, as he plays for his fourth Olympic medal and third gold.
One of the main things that these Olympics are showing us is that LeBron is still very much in the conversation as possibly the best overall basketball player in the world & this is something that has been the case, without fail, for about 17-18yrs in a row now. MJ probably had the best prime & is the best winner (even above Russell) but Bron is definitely the best basketball player ever. He’s the best, most important & most versatile guy on this USA team & this is clearly a ridiculously great team. He’s extremely strong, fast, athletic in terms of NBA forwards. And this is him as the literal oldest forward in the NBA. And his shooting & overall scoring is still right at the very top at his position. He remains a ferocious rebounder on both ends of the court. But his passing & ability to play pg is still the best part of his game imo & still just absolutely incredible to watch.
That being said Jokic is just as great as a passer, if not even better. Jokic, Bron & Shai are a lil separated from the rest of the world as far as individual talent. I’m still taking Shai as my #1 rn bc of the shot making & him being a lil more disruptive defensively… link to m.youtube.com
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Never say “Team Puerto” again please, thats like say “Team United” for team usa
I’m not sure how the question was raised to LeBron, but it shouldn’t have been about retirement in general. It should have been about Olympic play. If he still has the ability at 43, he may want to play one last time when it comes to LA. Simone Biles already hinted she’s planning to be there for that one.
Bronny be done by then. Qualify for 3×3 and go get a gold medal with his son.