Kevin Durant (23 points) came off the bench and had 21 points in the first half of Team USA’s 110-84 opening pool game against Nikola Jokic’s Serbian National Team, which put to bed for good the drama surrounding this Team USA men’s basketball squad that lingered after facing a couple of potential exhibition losses to South Sudan and Germany.
When Kawhi Leonard was sent home because he was physically unable to perform in the Olympics, most basketball purists agreed that the obvious choice to replace him was Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, the NBA Finals MVP.
Jaylen Brown vs. Grant Hill Continues
Instead, the Committee, led by NBA Hall of Famer Grant Hill, decided to choose a less-heralded but highly-valued teammate of Brown’s, Derrick White.
Plenty of folks had a problem with that move, and rumors surfaced that Brown’s reputation as a know-it all and his past criticism of Nike played a role in him being bypassed for White. Others suggested White was a better fit on the court.
Hill says that the driving force behind the snub was a “basketball decision.”
In a recent appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Grant Hill set the record straight.
“I spoke to his agent. I don’t know if that was before or after things went out on Twitter, but yeah, I think this idea that there’s a conspiracy theory. I always love a good conspiracy theory, but it was really truly a basketball decision, and these are tough decisions. But having gone through this with the FIBA competition, you want to find the right balance and the right pieces on the court that we needed,” he said.
Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis Chemistry Influenced Decisions On Team Construction
When Team USA got together for those four days of camp in Vegas, Hill says he discovered a chemistry between Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis that changed the committee’s entry way of thinking.
Said Hill: “We went to training camp and we don’t have KD; KD was out coming back from a calf injury. The Jayson Tatum was late for arrival. We ended up having to play AD and Bam Adebayo together. We didn’t know if that would work, our thinking was let’s have three centers much like in 1996 when we had Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Shaquille O’Neal and we’ll rotate, all three of them are different and provide different things and we would have a three-head monster at the center position.”
And what we found was that Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis can really play well together on both sides of the floor. So, we kind of stumbled upon something and learned something about our group in those four days in Vegas.”
Even after Team USA endured some close games and showed some defensive lapses, especially with the older first team featuring Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Joel Embiid, they still went 5-0 in exhibition play.
Team USA opened up against Serbia in a Men’s Group C game, and there are still plenty of people who believe the team would be better with Brown who capped off an All-NBA season with his first championship, leading the Celtics to the franchise’s record 18th banner.
Carmelo Anthony Wanted Jaylen Brown On The Team
Team USA legend Carmelo Anthony is very vocal on his “7pm In Brooklyn” podcast and recently said he still believes Jaylen Brown should have been awarded a spot. However, according to the United States managing director, Hill, they were right in choosing White, who he says perfectly fits the team’s needs.
“Not to say that he wouldn’t have been good. There’s a lot of guys you can go on, a list of guys who are very capable, and very, very qualified. But you know, for where we were, it was the right decision. Derrick White, I think, will help us as we pursue gold,” he concluded.
Team USA Needed Full Court Defender, Had Too Many Wings
Hill says the team was crowded at the 3 and 4 positions. Some of the injuries they had during camp made Hill and the committee re-think the game plan.
“Now we had a log jam at the 4th position,” Hill said. “Let’s not bring on someone no who can really give us great defense at the point of attack, guard and pressure point guards on opposing teams.”
And like Bam Adebayo said on the previews for Team USA’s game, “The Olympics is bigger than just one person.”
Team USA Loaded With Accolades and Big Names
Coming up with reasons to take two of Brown’s teammates and exclude him wasn’t hard for Team USA who’s loaded with talent. Without Brown, the team has eight MVP awards, 59 all-NBA selections, 15 NBA titles and 10 Olympic gold medals.
That and great depth at the wing position with King James, Kevin Durant, and Jayson Tatum. With KD out, however, the absence of Brown was glaring, and Tatum has been relegated to role player status with the rotations Steve Kerr is using.
Kevin Durant Sparks Team USA vs. Serbia
Dwyane Wade, who’s one of the analysts for Team USA hoops coverage on Peacock/NBC, said much of the talk about the roster won’t matter once KD steps on the court because “Plus, they have Kevin Durant,” and he’s probably the best plug and play performer of our generation.
KD did return to play with 2:33 seconds left in the first quarter against Serbia on Sunday. The all-time scorer in Team USA Olympics history didn’t see any action in the exhibition slate but hit his first three-point shot to cut Serbia’s lead to 20-17. Then he hit his second three to cap a 11-0 Team USA run, that gave them a lead at the end of the first quarter, capped by an alley-oop from Bron to Antman.
Durant finished the half with a team-high 21 points, banging down all five of his threes like he never missed a beat, hitting an acrobatic jumper, ending up on his backside as the first-half buzzer sounded, giving Team USA a 58-49 halftime lead that they never relinquished.
Ultimately Hill dismissed any talk of anything outside of basketball as being the reason Brown isn’t on the team as “conspiracy theory.”
“This idea that there’s a conspiracy theory, I always love a good conspiracy theory, but it was really truly a basketball decision,” Hill also said on Dan Patrick’s show.
Brown Didn’t Like Hill’s Comments
“Grant Hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing. I’ve been a VP since I was 21 years old. I have a great understanding,” Brown wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sunday morning.
Brown, who has been a vice president for the NBA Players’ Association since 2019, was replying to Hill’s comments and the war of words continues.
If everything goes as planned, nobody will remember that Brown didn’t make the team. There should be enough star power for Team USA to withstand any challenge thrown its way.
