Skip to main content

Steve Kerr: I'm 'Blown Away' by LeBron James' Concentration, Focus with Team USA


Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

Steve Kerr has coached against LeBron James plenty of times in the NBA, but the Golden State Warriors head coach is getting an entirely different perspective on the future Hall-of-Famer's game working with him for Team USA.

Speaking to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Kerr talked about being "blown away" by James' "effort and concentration and focus" leading up to the Olympics.

"On every single drill he talks," Kerr said. "He's even in a shootaround walkthrough his voice behind the play, yelling out what's happening, yelling out the scheme, his leadership by example. The guy is incredible and I mean I've known that forever, but to see it up close is pretty special."

James is playing on Team USA for the first time since the 2012 Olympics. He said during the 2023-24 NBA season season that he had fully committed himself to being on the U.S. squad.

"It's more miles put on these tires," said James. "But if I'm committed — which I am — to Team USA, then I'm going to commit my mind, body and soul to being out there for Team USA, representing our country with the utmost respect and go out there and play."

The results in America's three showcase games have indicated James is locked in right now. He's averaging 9.3 points on 50.0 percent shooting (11-of-22) with 2.7 assists and 2.7 assists per contest.

Kerr hasn't used James for more than 21 minutes in a game thus far. He could receive a heavier workload when the Olympics begin, but the U.S. team is loaded with talent that there are no shortage of options to choose from.

One thing that Kerr has done in these tune-up games is tinker with his starting lineup, except for three spots. James, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid have been in the starting five in all three games.

Kevin Durant's return to practice on Friday after missing two weeks with a strained calf adds another starting option for Kerr to choose from when he's ready to play in games.

James is going to be the leader of this team by virtue of his status as a legend and facilitator on the court. He's still capable of taking over as a scorer when he wants to, but players like Curry, Durant, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards can take some of the pressure off his shoulders.

The United States will play two games at O2 Arena in London against South Sudan on Saturday and Germany on Monday before traveling to Paris for the start of the Olympics.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NBA Rumors: LeBron James' Son Bronny Is on Draft Boards of 'Multiple Teams'

Chris Coduto/Getty Images Bronny James' USC team has struggled this season, but that reportedly hasn't stopped the NBA interest in the son of legend LeBron James. "When I talk to people around the league, he's on the draft boards of multiple teams," Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Thursday: Charania noted teams around the league believe he is "further along" on the defensive side of the ball than the offensive side, which makes performances like Wednesday's all the more important. The USC freshman finished with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds while shooting 5-of-11 from the field in one of his best offensive showings of the season in a loss to Arizona. The only game that he scored more points in was a Dec. 30 loss to Oregon State when he finished with 15 on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Perhaps most importantly, James played a season-high 30 minutes against the Wildcats on Wedn...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Happened to the Rivalry Between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony? - Bleacher Report

They were two young stars with unique and special abilities on the basketball court. They had recently played in a high-attention scholastic contest against each other. They were both selected in the same draft. The LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony rivalry was supposed to be the best individual rivalry since Magic and Bird. But while the relationship between Bird and Johnson is dramatized in a new Broadway play , Anthony and James will meet for the 15th time in their careers and do so without much fanfare. James and Anthony first met in a USA developmental camp in 2001 . Much like how Johnson raved about Bird after they played together on a college All-Star team playing in an international tournament, James couldn’t stop talking about Anthony. The two squared off in a high school showcase game the following year that pitted the player regarded as the best senior in the country (Anthony) against the one that was the best junior in the country (James), a game Anthony’s team wo...
Post a Comment
Read more

‘So You Think You Can Dance’ 18 episode 3 recap: In ‘Auditions: Day Three,’ one hopeful was like ‘the LeBron James of dance’

"So You Think You Can Dance" season 18 ended the first stage of the competition on Monday night, March 18, with the last dance hopefuls looking for a spot in the choreography round. So far the bar has been set pretty high by standout performances from dancers representing a variety of dance styles, shapes, sizes and ability levels. So who stood out among the last crop of contestants? Did the show save the best for last? "We've put 25 people through," said judge Allison Holker at the start of the show. She singled out contemporary dancer Braylon Browner and gymnast Dakayla Wilson as standouts from the first two days of auditions. Comfort Fedoke agreed that Wilson is capable of anything a professional choreographer could throw at her. Maksim Chmerkovskiy was especially impressed by contemporary dancer Easton Magliarditi . But "there's so many other things outside of dance that we're also looking at." More from GoldDerby SEE ...
Post a Comment
Read more