Stephen Curry will begin his 16th NBA season in October but this is the first time he’s played for Team USA in the Olympics. He passed on opportunities to play in 2016 and 2021 because of health and family obligations. But with an opportunity to play with Kevin Durant again and rival and contemporary LeBron James was too enticing to pass up. Add to that Team USA coach is Golden State’s Steve Kerr, and it was the perfect time for Curry to make his debut at age 36.
“I mean you compete against guys and like you said, we have, histories as teammates and won at a high level,” he said. “First there’s the respect of what everybody’s done in their careers. When you compete against people and you play with them, you see them in different aspects of your NBA journey. You learn a lot about people. And that familiarity only helps us in this situation because, one, everybody’s going to approach it the right way, prepare themselves mentally, physically to be able to hoop, and come in with the right energy of we just trying to win.”
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There is no animosity between Curry and Durant, despite Durant leaving the Warriors in 2019 for Brooklyn. Curry was eager to rejoin him for this brief stretch.
“I know how hard he works,” Curry said of Durant. “Because I’ve seen it up close and personal for those three years, and I know the level that he’s trying to get to competitively to, to be his best self and why he’s the all-time leading scorer in Olympic history. So you thrive off of that, that preparation to give you confidence in the game.
“We’re here for, for business, but we’re also here. So we’ll continue to learn from each other. And I think that familiarity only helps us take advantage of this, this experience. And so, it’s been cool, too, especially from a coaching perspective, to see how everybody’s different voice and approach brings the best out of their respective teams and why they’re here.
“So, I enjoy the experience for sure. And just knowing that we’re all about winning. And that’s why, you know, our careers kind of speak for themselves.”
As we have learned over the past week, the Olympic tournament is different. Games are 40 minutes long. Team USA has 11 current or former All-Stars and All-Defensive second-team guard Derrick White. Kerr benched Jayson Tatum against Serbia and Joel Embiid against South Sudan. Egos are not allowed in this atmosphere.
“Once the game starts, it’s OK, there’s just basketball,” Curry said. “You kind of get lost in whatever the atmosphere of that particular game is and whatever the challenge is to win that particular game. There’s no, pacing yourself [as a player would in an NBA season]. “
Team USA has just one week left together, so there is added emphasis on every practice, every shootaround, every moment together because it’s brief and this group will never be together again.
“It’s a sprint, March Madness kind of style,” Curry said. “So, just to be able to lock into every practice. Not like we don’t do that in a league, but every practice means something.
“You’ve got to be able to adapt quickly. You’ve got to be able to bring your egos of who we are as individual players, but also let them go knowing it doesn’t matter who’s the man scoring that particular night. When you’re on the floor, you’re asked to do a certain thing and do it to the best. Your ability to play with energy. And, as Team USA, if we do that, usually good things happen.”