Jul 25, 2024; Paris, France; USA basketball players Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant talk to the media during a press conference. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports PARIS — The original “Dream Team” set the gold standard for Olympic basketball.
But today’s American stars face a tougher test in Paris, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry said on Thursday, pointing to some of the NBA’s biggest names hailing from around the globe.
The U.S. team had to contend with just nine international players from the NBA on the road to gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games. In Paris, dozens of athletes with NBA experience can be found on rosters of national teams from Germany to South Sudan.
Asked to predict which player will be the biggest star in Paris outside Team USA, Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Curry said: “I think you’ve got some options.”
There is Serbian giant Nikola Jokic, who picked up his third MVP honor last season with the Denver Nuggets, and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Greek phenomenon Giannis Antetokounmpo.
A hero’s welcome awaits France’s 7-foot-4 NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, who entered the league as one of the most highly anticipated first overall draft picks and lived up to the hype.
“Our game is global now, man. So all these guys are huge stars in their own ways,” said Durant, the all-time leading scorer at the Olympics for the United States. “They’re all the best of the best in the world.”
An Olympic tune-up match last weekend against South Sudan provided an excellent reminder that the U.S. team must stay alert. The 16-time Olympic champions needed a LeBron James jumper in the final seconds to escape with a 101-100 win.
“Everybody’s a contender. Everybody that’s amongst the 12 teams here are here for a reason and believe that they can win,” Curry said.
First-time Olympian Curry said he would benefit from the experience of his teammates and appeared on good terms with Durant, with whom he won two of his four NBA titles for Golden State before a tense split saw Durant join the Brooklyn Nets.
“I know how hard he works because I’ve seen it up close and personal for those three years, and I know the level that he’s trying to get to competitively,” said Curry. “You thrive off of that, that preparation to give you confidence like, ‘Hey, you know, we’re here for business, but we’re also here to continue to learn from each other.'”
Team USA coach Steve Kerr has coached Durant, now with the Phoenix Suns, and Curry in the NBA and served up a blunt wake-up call with a film breakdown pointing out weaknesses that were exposed during a 5-0 exhibition schedule that was far more stressful than the win column might imply.
Among his talking points to the team Thursday night: We’re playing too slow and not efficient enough with perimeter scoring.
“We’re jogging through possessions,” Kerr said he told the team. “It’s the reminder. It’s time. We’re here. … 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.”
Durant practiced in the 5-on-5 portion of the Team USA workout on Thursday for the first time since being shut down with a calf strain, a signal he is available for the Olympics opener.
Team USA faces Serbia on Sunday (11:15 a.m. ET) in a rematch of a game played in Abu Dhabi earlier this month to begin play in Pool C, which also features games against South Sudan (July 31) and Puerto Rico (Aug. 3).
The top two finishers in each Group, plus the two best third-place teams, advance to the Final Phase — a single-elimination, eight-team tournament to determine gold, silver and bronze medals.
Asked Thursday which team he looks forward to facing the most, Curry got down to the point.
“Whoever’s in the gold medal game,” he said.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
