A former great that used to play for the Phoenix Suns had a special surprise for two currents greats on the Suns ahead of last weekend’s game in Minneapolis against the Timberwolves.
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Grant Hill, now the USA Basketball men’s national team managing director, presented Kevin Durant and Devin Booker with their new Team USA jerseys for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and confirmation that the Suns’ duo made the final roster.
“We had no idea,” Booker said. “We walk in the room and G’s (Grant Hill) there and the jerseys are there.”
Booker, a one-time Olympic gold medalist, and Durant, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, will join a field with some of the best players in the world in Steph Curry, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Jrue Holiday, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard.
“I’m excited about the experience,” Booker said. “The roster has come out now. It’s star studded with some legends of the game that weren’t a part of it last time around. I didn’t get the full experience going straight from the (2021) Finals to just playing (in Tokyo). Taking it in with all of our families is going to be a good time.”
The news comes with the playoffs under a week away, as Booker and Durant will take on Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in Round 1, leading them to solely focus on a deep playoff run before the Olympics.
According to nbcolympics.com, “Tipoff for the group stage of basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games is set for Saturday, July 27 and will conclude on Sunday, August 4.
The knockout phase begins on Tuesday, August 6 with the gold medal game for men set to be played on Saturday, August 10.”
Both Durant and Booker committed to wanting to play for Team USA back at Suns’ media day in October. They were named among the roster’s “expected core” on Feb. 29.
This will be the second-straight Olympics that the duo pairs up for after they won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
“I was there for a short amount of time, (but I learned) just win at all costs,” Booker said. “That’s what it came down to after losing that first game to France and in the (group stage). Just having become a team very quickly, and we ended up winning.”
Booker added that him and Durant had a relationship even before this gold-medal run in 2021.
“It was honestly laid before that. We were developing a relationship over time, even from when I was on the (USA) Select team,” Booker said. “That viral video of all of us playing 1-on-1. I think I was the first one KD went up to when and asked, ‘Did he want to play?’ I was all in. He’s somebody that when we played early in my career, I would check after the game to see what he said about me, and it was always positive. He always said he liked my competitive spirit. Getting that confirmation from from one of the G.O.A.T.s, that’s something that kept me going. Now to be teammates, it’s the same thing. I always say iron sharpens iron.”
Bradley Beal, who was supposed to be on the Tokyo Olympic team before he was unable to compete due to contracting COVID, was happy to see his fellow stars make the final roster.
“I’m happy for them, I love it,” Beal said. “I am jealous. I wish I was on the team, but that team is a super team. So many talented guys, my brother Jayson (Tatum) is on the team, too. I’m beyond ecstatic for all of those guys. I wish them nothing but the best, good health. Bring back the gold. That’s all that matters.”
Team USA finished in fourth place in last summer’s FIBA World Cup with arguably its worst roster this decade (see below). Now, they look to rebound off of this with one of their best rosters ever to compete this summer.
Durant and Booker’s Team USA History
Here are the stats for Durant and Booker’s Team USA history with KD having one of the most decorated international careers ever:
Kevin Durant
Teams:2010 Turkey FIBA World Championship2012 London Olympic Games2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympic GamesTotal Stats: 20.6 PPG | 5.6 RPG | 2.8 APG | 1.3 SPG | 0.7 BPG on 53.8/48.8/87.7 splits in 27.7 MPG (31 games)Achievements: USA Men’s Basketball all-time Olympic leading point scorer (435 points)Three-time Olympic Gold Medalist (2012, 2016, 2021)One-time FIBA Gold Medalist (was the team’s first FIBA championship since 1994)FIBA World Championship MVP (2010)Three-time USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year (2010, 2016, 2021)
Devin Booker
Teams:2020 (2021) Tokyo Olympic GamesTotal Stats:9.3 PPG | 3.2 RPG | 1.8 APG | 1.5 SPG | 0.3 BPG on 42.2/33.3/92.9 splits in 20.6 MPG (6 games)Achievements:One-time Olympic Gold Medalist (2021)
Durant and Booker helped Team USA rebound from a poor 2019 FIBA finish with winning the gold in the 2021 Olympics, and they will have a chance to do it again this summer.
