Team USA men’s basketball: Devin Booker, Steph Curry lift team
Steph Curry praising Booker and giving the team momentum
Stephen Curry had just answered the final question Saturday night.
The nearly 20-minute news conference was finished at Bercy Arena, but Team USA coach Steve Kerr had one more thing to say.
Grabbing the microphone, Kerr couldn’t leave Paris without letting the world know how instrumental Devin Booker was for Team USA in winning the 2024 Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball.
“Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player,” Kerr said. “Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that.”
LeBron James was the tournament’s MVP, Kevin Durant became the first to win four Olympic gold medals in men’s basketball and Curry delivered special performances in the semifinals and final, but Booker was a difference maker helping Team USA take home a fifth straight Olympic gold medal.
Starting every Olympic game for Team USA, Booker averaged 11.7 points and 3.3 assists. Shooting 56.8% from the field in the six games, the Phoenix Suns star shot a team-best 56.5% from 3 (13-of-23).
Booker’s best offensive output came in Team USA’s 122-87 win against Brazil when he scored 18 points.
“You just never know when your night is going to be,” Booker said during a USA Network interview after the quarterfinal victory. “You always have to be prepared for it, but locking into the details of the game is an important part. Defending at a high level is what the team needs.”
The now two-time Olympic champion finished with a plus-78 in this year’s Olympic tournament.
Team USA played 11 games this summer counting the five exhibitions. Booker emerged with the best plus/minus of anyone on the team at plus-130 (plus-78 in the Olympics, plus-52 in the exhibitions).
“When you’re in a role like Devin Booker, in a role like myself, in a role like Bam (Adebayo) on an Olympic team, it’s on a nightly basis,” said 2008 Olympic champion Dwyane Wade during Team USA’s win over Brazil as he provided analysis for NBC and USA Network.
“So, a guy like Devin Booker, who we know can fill it up with the best of them, understands that some nights, he’s not going to get that opportunity, but what he will get an opportunity to do is be able to put his imprint on the game and he’s done that in so many ways.”
The numbers tell only part of Booker’s story in the 2024 Olympics.
He pressured the ball on the defense, took on the challenge of guarding the opposing team’s better perimeter players and served as a connector on offense in moving the ball.
Booker hardly forced shots or took tough ones off the bounce, either. Playing with Durant, James and Curry, Booker embraced the role of blending in instead of trying to do what he does in Phoenix.
“He’s probably the guy who has been the most adaptable to go from a different role in the NBA to a new one here,” Kerr said during the Olympics. “He’s such a big scorer in the league, but just like in Tokyo, he’s adapted to being an on-ball guy, ball mover.
“The offense clicks when he’s out there, the defense is really good. That’s why he’s started every game and seems to be good with any combination.”
Role-playing aside, Booker is still a bucket, first and foremost.
His scoring opportunities weren’t as frequent as they are with the Suns, but Booker hit huge shots in the Olympics with the biggest coming in Team USA’s comeback win over Serbia in the semifinals.
Down 11 points, Team USA mounted a comeback that began with Durant and Booker hitting back-to-back 3s in an 8-2 spurt in a 45-second span to cut Serbia’s lead to five with 6:33 left in the game.
“I think when Devin Booker hit the 3 at the top of the key, that’s when I felt the momentum kind of shift, and we capitalized off of it from there,” Curry said Friday. “It seemed like everybody made the shot that they needed, and we got the stops that we needed.”
More Olympics: Mercury’s Kahleah Copper leads Team USA to dramatic gold medal victory over France
Booker closed the 95-91 thriller with Joel Embiid, Curry, Durant and James.
Two nights later in the gold medal game, Booker scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half, leading Team USA to a 49-41 halftime lead.
Booker enjoyed himself off the court in Paris with his teammates, family — and his trusty camcorder.
Attending several events, something athletes and fans couldn’t do in 2021 in Tokyo amid the pandemic, Booker watched Simone Biles and the American women capture gold in the gymnastics all around.
“It’s hard to put to words if you weren’t in there,” Booker said. “Unbelievable experience. You can instantly feel you’re a part of history. Incredible performances all around. I’m happy I got to see it and document it.”
This Olympics is being viewed as the changing of the guard for USA basketball.
James and Durant likely played in their last Olympics while Curry saw this opportunity as his one and only chance to compete for an Olympic gold medal.
“Very thankful to have this gold medal around my neck,” Curry said.
James is 39 years old, Curry is 36 and Durant will turn 36 in September. With the Olympics every four years, James doesn’t envision wearing the red, white and blue No. 6 jersey in 2028 in Los Angeles.
“Nah, I can’t see myself playing in LA,” James said Saturday night. “But I also couldn’t see myself playing in Paris. Four years from now, no, I can’t see myself playing.”
Don’t count Durant out for 2028, though.
“Who knows?” he said when asked about 2028 in L.A. “We’ll see.”
Booker is just 27 years old with two Olympic golds. He’s expected to be one of the main guys in 2028 along with Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum.
By the time 2032 comes around in Brisbane, Booker will be the age Durant is now.
While the game continues to evolve with young talent always incoming, Booker will have become a staple for USA basketball by that point and likely have an opportunity for one final ride like James.
He’s halfway to the record four gold medals Durant has won in Olympic men’s basketball. Durant believes records are meant to be broken and that someone will do so one day.
It may not be Booker, but he’s on his way to tying it and has shown Team USA needs him to help take home Olympic gold.
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 : 2024-08-11 08:13:00
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