U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball team holds first practice in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - The U.S. Men's Basketball team's chase for a fifth straight gold medal is about to begin.
The team held an open practice Sunday night in Las Vegas to let the world get a look at this year's line up, which includes future Hall of Famers Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant.
Team USA will enter the 2024 Paris Olympics as the heavy favorites for the gold. However, the star-studded roster will need some time to adjust to thier new teammates and some slight differences from the NBA's rules.
"But all in all really good first two days just getting our feet underneath us getting to know each other and finding finding a groove so I'm very, very happy with the first two days.
It's really about executing together, finding good shots and from one night to the next we're gonna we're gonna have different guys making shots feeling comfortable and we can we can ride you know any one of those guys on any given night."
Steve Kerr, Team USA Head Coach
"You know, playing alongside Steph, Bron and KD, so I don't gotta do too much I just gotta be out there and do the right thing.
Yeah they mentioned, you know, some guys we might not play some games might or might not play that many minutes. And like I said, I'm playing alongside Hall of Famers. So I'm just here, but if they need me, I'll be a call away.
I'm still the number one option. I mean, y'all might look at it differently. I don't at it no differently.
Just go out there and be myself. Shoot my shots, play defense and, you know, they got to fit into play around me."
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
"It's an adjustment but like anything, the more reps you get, the more comfortable you get. Thankfully we have another two and a half weeks before the first olympic games to kind of shake out all those cobwebs and get used to the spacing on the floor and feel the ball that."
Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors
Team USA will hold thier first exhibition game Wednesday against Canada. From there, the squad will head to Abu Dhabi for two matchups.
It will face Australia on Monday, July 15, and Nikola Jokic's Serbia Squad on Wednesday, July 17.
Team USA will wrap up its pre-Olympic schedule in London, where it will square off against South Sudan on Saturday, July 20 and battle Germany in its final Olympic tune-up on Monday, July 22.
