TOKYO - Devin Booker, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday arrived in Japan on a private jet just before 11 p.m. On Saturday, less than 24 hours ago Team USA began their Olympic game in a crucial game against France.
It was a brutal traveling day after an exhausting playoff stretch, and the combination would test his mental and physical stamina. It also won the utmost respect from its American peers.
"I have a lot of respect for those guys not only for not doing it but for actually having their say," said Team USA forward Draymond Green. "You're talking about three true professionals, three extremely competitive guys who wouldn't be on their way here if it didn't make sense."
As the American team came together to watch the NBA Finals game during training camp in Las Vegas and after their departure to Japan, they speculated about the possibility that one or more of the three begged after such an extreme turnaround. can. But all three kept on sticking to their commitment time and again. On Friday afternoon, Booker took a plane from Phoenix and Middleton, and less than a day after their championship parade, Holiday took a plane from Milwaukee.
They met at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, not as competitors for the past two weeks but as teammates. After refueling, they boarded a long-haul plane for a nine-hour journey across the Pacific at night.
"We could very easily have gotten to the last game ... and Devin Booker was saying, 'Man, we lost, I'm pissed, I'm out,' or Khris Middleton and Jew Holiday saying, 'We're out now. Having won a championship, I want to celebrate and be at home with my family, I'm out,'" Green said. "It's up to us to do our part to make sure that we do. Work that they are finally here for this, which is rewarding for helping us compete and win gold medals."
It's unclear how much coach Greg Popovich might rely on for the trio to play, but he indicated that he plans to use them against the Frenchman, the toughest matchup facing the Americans in the pool-play round. Including the games against Iran and the Czech Republic.
"We clearly know they're in shape. They're tired. They went through a roller coaster of emotions," said Team USA guard Zach LaVine. "I think they will be ready to go, and we will see what happens. But as far as the team is concerned, I think we need to be ready for everything. If they want to go If we are not ready, then we have to go out. Perform there and still."
After Team USA's seventh-place finish at the World Cup in China in 2019, when France exited the medal stands in the quarterfinals, and lost two exhibition games in Las Vegas, the team's reputation took some hits. But despite challenges with COVID-19 protocols, injuries and short time to confinement, it will have 12 healthy players and a formidable talent pool ready to try to re-establish dominance.
"As much as it sucks to lose, those two losses only helped us," Green said. "They didn't hurt us in the slightest. If anything, you might just lose a little bit of the fear you've put in people's hearts for years. What you go out and do is what makes you feel good. Got to do and you can get that right behind."