Perfect Teamwork! The US Men’s Basketball Team Has Laid the Groundwork for Their Olympic Gold Medal Bid

On July 28, tonight at 11:15 PM, the US men’s basketball team will face Serbia in their Olympic group stage match.

The US men’s basketball team has indeed encountered several hurdles on their journey to the Paris Olympic gold medal, such as an older team composition, injured core players, and formidable opponents. However, they laid groundwork that might not be immediately apparent – building chemistry among the players.

Currently, the players come from various NBA teams like the Lakers, Celtics, Warriors, Suns, 76ers, and Pacers, but they actually share a strong understanding despite limited time spent training together.

Firstly, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, who have been teammates since 2019, previously worked together at the Warriors where they won two championships. Despite the long separation, they still manage to re-establish their chemistry.

“We just pick up where we left off,” Durant said during a joint press conference with Curry in Paris.

“I think this familiarity helps our experience with this national team,” Curry added.

The participation of Kevin Durant in the game against Serbia remains uncertain, as well as whether he will start alongside Curry or come off the bench. However, whenever they play together, there is always a magical synergy.

Curry and Durant first played together in 2010 at the FIBA World Championship, where they won the gold medal. In that tournament, no player performed better than Durant, leading the US team to victory with a record-breaking average of 22.8 points per game.

In the summer of 2016, Durant joined Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green at the Warriors. At that time, the Warriors had already made it to the NBA Finals twice, and Durant’s addition made them an unstoppable force, becoming the most recent dynasty in the NBA.

If Curry and Durant are on the court together, the opposing team faces a dilemma – should they double-team Durant or Curry, the potential greatest shooter in history?

“We were teammates before and won high-level games,” Curry said when asked about reuniting with Durant. “This familiarity will help us, we’ll prepare mentally and physically for the game, and bring the right energy of ‘winning’ here.”

Of course, the unnoticeable connections within the US team extend beyond Curry and Durant. For example, players like Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, and Derrick White are from the Celtics, who recently won the NBA championship together. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are from the Lakers. Durant and Devin Booker are teammates at the Phoenix Suns. Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton played together on the national team last summer in the basketball World Cup. Bam Adebayo comes from the Heat, and assistant coach Erik Spoelstra is the head coach of the Heat.

James previously played for the Heat, with Spoelstra being his head coach at that time. Spoelstra is also the head coach of the Heat now, and he is the head coach of the US team.

For Durant, it was the “coolest part” of the Olympics, these situations help the US team bridge the gap in chemistry compared to other national teams whose players play for their respective national teams throughout the summer. “You see Bam and his coach here, LeBron and all the coaches he played for are here,” Durant said. “So this familiarity will help us move forward, hoping for good results.”

This summer, the US team sometimes expressed a disadvantage in continuity, a phrase often heard when the US team has lost or narrowly won. Currently, these US team players and coaches are well-acquainted with each other, ready to tackle the upcoming challenges.