MENDENHALL CENTER, LAS VEGAS, NV — Four Golden State Warriors (almost five) participated in USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (“#USABMNT”) training last month. Here’s a look back at the haps…
Stephen Curry
Curry was first listed as not participating, as there was an asterisk that replaced what would have been a jersey number on the official Team USA roster handed out to media on the morning of Day One.
Other players listed with an asterisk included John Wall, Chandler Parsons, Kevin Love, Paul George and Kyrie Irving, all of whom were recovering from recent injuries.
And LeBron James, who would arrive in town for Day Two session only, indeed, had a uniform number listed by his name.
“There was a little confusion, but I was trying to give my legs a ‘go’ and see how I felt,” explained Curry when we asked about it. “I wasn’t as ready to go as I thought.
“I’m healthy, I’m feeling good…I want to make sure my ankles are right and my body’s feeling good and that’s the plan of attack.”
Curry spent a good portion of Day One participating in dribbling and shooting drills, a three-point contest or two (more on that later), then chilled out and leaned against the wall chatting for a long time with, well, Wall(s).
Steph Curry just chillin' by two walls. #TeamUSA #Warriors pic.twitter.com/sOXi2MAqWY
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) August 11, 2015
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On Day Two, Curry participated again and put on a show, as did other elite Team USA members (James, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, and Curry) in a post-up drill with assistant coach Monty Williams.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L-s27VgWhI&w=560&h=315]Drills often involved keeping score to encourage a little competitiveness, a microcosm of the system and culture that USABMNT has fostered under the stewardship of Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski. I wrote a detailed gamer for the Williams post-ups for Interbasket here, with quotes from Curry.
We also got a closer look at the Curry Two, Curry’s next signature shoe coming out from Under Armour.
We actually managed to get our own up-close shot of #StephCurry's #TeamUSA colorway #CurryTwo's today! ?? pic.twitter.com/XNKpCeG8RU
— LetsGoWarriors (@LetsGoWarriors) August 12, 2015
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For a better look at these as-yet-unreleased kicks, check out this post from hoops photographer Cassy Athena.
Klay Thompson
Thompson spent a good portion of his time doing what he does best: shooting. He also got upset at getting ousted from a three-point shooting contest…
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…which he more than made up for with one of the better highlights from the Showcase exhibition game on Day Three (my gamer is here).
Thompson was also asked if he’d rather win an NBA championship or a gold medal.
“That’s tough. That NBA (championship), man, that was tough,” said Thompson. “I’ll say ‘1a’ NBA championship, ‘1b’ a gold medal. You know, it’s tough to pick, man, put me in a tough spot!”
Klay told us more about the bike shot and the San Antonio Spurs becoming more of a favorite to win the 2016 NBA title than the defending-champion Dubs.
KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote a report on Klay’s observation of little brother Trayce Thompson’s call-up to the Chicago White Sox.
Harrison Barnes
Barnes soaked it all in and got a chance to go through shooting drills with other wings such as Durant and Gordon Hayward, among others.
“Just to be part of the USA family, that in and of itself is special, but mainly to see how these guys work,” said Barnes. “You get an up close and personal view of how these guys work. You kind of take little tidbits from their game just working against them.”
Harrison also gave us a great quote in the aforementioned Williams post:
“You see one guy make a move, you’re like, ‘Oh I’m going to try to make my move better,’ and then the next guy adds an extra flavor onto it, so everybody’s just kind of feeding off each other. I think that’s what makes this culture what it is.”
Barnes told us he was working on his post game and ball-handling. In the Showcase game he put into practice some of the drills he was seen doing during training camp, such as the dribble-stepback.
Draymond Green
Just by his very nature of being so upbeat — and perhaps as a surprise to most Warriors fans who are privy only to his oncourt competitive grit and trash-talking — Green got along with everyone including Kenneth Faried and even Blake Griffin, often celebrating small victories with side-bumps and the like:
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Green was, of course, the shortest of the power forwards, which included LaMarcus Aldridge, Dwight Howard, and DeAndre Jordan, but we still saw him get up one time for a flush with the big fellas:
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Green even won a three-point contest, knocking out Thompson and Curry in the process, along with Kawhi Leonard. He, of course, indulged in the moment:
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“Everybody I’m around makes me laugh. If you don’t have positive energy, I can’t be around you,” said Green. “I don’t do negative energy. Negative energy, it kills the day.”
But side bumps after completing a drill?
“I’m human!” said the eternally effervescent Green, completely disregarding the introverts of the general populace.
Still, he was easily one of the most extroverted players at the camp and it was a reminder of the intangibles that he brings to any team that he plays for.
“At the end of the day, if you’re not having fun, what’s it really about you know?”
Green also told us a little bit more (but not much more) about improving his post-up game as well.
Warriors Still Respect The Elders
The four Warriors definitely felt it was a privilege to be part of Team USA’s program, even though, as Colangelo and Krzyzewski told reporters, the final twelve players won’t be announced until next June.
“I’ve been fortunate to be a part of USA each summer and I’ve gotten so much better from it,” said Thompson. “I’m really thankful for these guys.”
Team USA has won four gold medals since Colangelo’s revamp after the 2004 debacle in Athens, winning gold at the Olympics in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, as well as at the previously named FIBA World Championships (now called the “FIBA Basketball World Cup”) in 2010 in Turkey and 2012 in Spain.
These facts have not gone unnoticed by the Warriors’ representatives, even after claiming the NBA throne.
“The older guys coming back, guys like LeBron, CP, guys that have their choice of whether they want to play in the Olympics,” said Barnes. “They know how important it is to come back to USA Basketball, for them to set the precedent for us younger guys to follow the same thing.”
“Carmelo, CP, LeBron, Kobe (Bryant), ‘D-Wade’ (Dwyane Wade) — all those guys, they helped put that culture into place and now it’s up to us to continue to honor that and embrace that culture,” said Green. “Gotta be a part of it!”
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @cassyathenaphoto)
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