NBA All-Star Devin Booker proves to be essential for Team USA
Phoenix Suns All-Star Devin Booker plays multiple roles for Team USA as he looks to win his second straight Olympic gold medal this summer in Paris.
Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant has started 1,228 of the 1,231 NBA games he’s played in his Hall of Fame career counting the playoffs, but he’ll continue to come off the bench for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr likes the second unit that has a combination of Anthony Edwards, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Durant, but he expects an increase in Durant’s playing time as Team USA enters Tuesday’s quarterfinal game against Brazil in Paris (12:30 p.m. MST, 3:30 p.m. ET, on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com).
“There’s no plans on changing that, but of course as the games get more difficult, my guess is Kevin will be playing more and more minutes,” Kerr said Sunday. “Keep coming off the bench for now, but we will lean on him more and more as we go.”
Team USA’s all-time leading scorer in men’s Olympic basketball competition is averaging 16 points in this year’s Summer Games on 63.6% shooting and has the teams’ highest plus/minus at plus-55.
Durant connected on his first seven 3-point shots in the Olympics. He’s 10-of-14 from that distance through three games.
Kerr said the plan going into training camp was to have Durant start. There was much anticipation for LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Durant, three all-time greats, to start together in the Olympics.
Curry even said trio the took a picture like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird did from the iconic 1992 Dream Team, but Durant suffered a calf injury before training camp that sidelined him for Team USA’s five exhibition games.
Durant progressed to the point of being able to practice and participate in a 5-on-5 scrimmage days before Team USA’s Olympic Group C play opener against Serbia. He not only returned for that game, but Durant played one of his best games ever in Olympic competition.
Making his first eight shots with five coming from 3-point range, Durant scored 23 points with 21 coming in the first half of a 110-84 blitzing of Serbia.
“We had kind of established a lineup that we liked,” Kerr said. “When we brought (Durant) back, he was only going to play a certain amount of minutes against Serbia and he played so well and he fit so well with that group and it was devastating to see that group together.”
After that game, Durant said he was OK with however Kerr wants to utilize him. Durant played three seasons for Kerr in Golden State, winning back-to-back NBA championships (2017, 2018).
“I told coach whatever he needs from me, I’m willing to do anything to adapt to anything,” Durant said when asked if he’s cool as a sixth man. “It’s always been fun trying to figure out new roles, adapt to whatever the game tells me.”
In turn, Jayson Tatum didn’t see any action at all early on. Kerr admitted the Tatum decision was crazy, but he made it in part because of Durant’s return. Kerr also wanted to see certain lineup combinations.
Tatum wound up starting the next two games as Team USA finished 3-0 in group play. He and Durant are essentially playing the same position when looking at Devin Booker and Curry starting in the backcourt along with James and either Joel Embiid or Davis in the frontcourt.
Related: Here’s why Phoenix Suns’ star Devin Booker is a big hit with fans in France
Having Durant come off the bench puts him in a potent lineup that has size with Davis and Adebayo playing together, the explosive Edwards and two guys who play multiple roles in White and Holiday. Durant’s plug-and-play ability opens up the floor for interior scoring and puts him in position to be the primary 3-point shooter.
“We’ve been calling ourselves the bench mob for a long time now,” Adebayo said after Team USA’s 103-86 victory over South Sudan. “It doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup, we always seem to figure it out.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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Publish date : 2024-08-05 06:00:00
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