Throughout this Olympic process, the press always asked about the usual stars LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, but never really about a certain player who was fundamental to this gold-medal cause. Head coach Steve Kerr had one player to single out when speaking to reporters after leading Team USA to victory over France.
As the Warriors tactician ended his press conference, he mentioned that nobody had asked him about Phoenix star Devin Booker. The coach made it a point to share some love for the Suns guard, even calling him the “unsung MVP” of this squad.
“Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player,” Kerr said about the player who averaged 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the Olympics, while dropping in 56.8% of his shots from the field and 56.5% from range. “Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that.”
Steve Kerr on Devin Booker:
“He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that.”
(via @BenGolliver) pic.twitter.com/3QBGSM2P97
— NBA News (@Nbanews109) August 11, 2024
Dwayne Wade, who was invited as a commentator on the Olympic transmissions, even referred to Booker as a future leader for the U.S. men’s basketball team. “In four years, Devin Booker is a guy who can lead this team,” said the Miami Heat icon, who recently was inducted to the Hall of Fame.
There is no way around it, now that a golden generation is coming to an end. For example, both James and Kerr went from foes to allies during this Olympic process after competing against each other for several titles since a decade ago, when Golden State and Cleveland produced one of the NBA’s most classic rivalries.
“LeBron, what a blessing to coach him finally after all these years of coaching against him and trying to figure out how to beat him and to watch him up close,” expressed the tactician. “I’ve said this for the past few weeks — just to see his professionalism, how coachable he is, how gifted he is at every part of the game he seems to have mastered, I’m thrilled to have been able to coach him these last six weeks and I’m a LeBron fan for life.”
The 39-year-old averaged 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 1.3 steals across six tournament contests. In the gold-medal match, James dropped 14 points, six rebounds, 10 assists, and two steals in 33 minutes in their 98-87 final victory over France.
Despite his limited role for Team USA this summer, Jayson Tatum is convinced that he will earn a spot leading the national team in the future
This Olympic run also meant the end of a generation that includes stars like Curry and KD, so Jayson Tatum knows for sure that he will have more opportunity to shine in the future. The Boston champion revealed that his limited role with Team USA this summer won’t affect his decision to play for his country.
The Celtics forward did not participate in two of six Olympic contests in Paris, including the semifinal win against Serbia last Thursday. During the gold-medal game against France, he came off the bench in the first quarter and played a total of 11 minutes in their victory, scoring two points and earning three rebounds.
“It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make any decision off emotions,” Tatum acknowledged. “If you asked me right now if I was going to play in 2028 — it is four years from now and I [would have] to take time and think about that. So I’m not going to make any decision based off how this experience was or how I felt individually.”
In many occasions, Steve Kerr explained that his choice not to play Jayson wasn’t based on performance. “A lot of people text me and reached out and said ‘Make sure this fuels you,’ which I appreciate. There’s a lot of people that care about me,” the player said. “I think the tough part is yes, you can use things to fuel you, but I’m still human.”
