“If We Get a Silver Medal…”: Draymond Green Describes the Pressure of Playing for Team USA

Draymond Green is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. But this year he enjoyed the tournament in Paris as a spectator and saw the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, lead Team USA to the gold medal. However, Green refuses to believe that winning the gold medal for Team USA is as easy as people make it out to be.

During his interview with Sloane from Sloane Knows, the Warriors star described the immense pressure that athletes representing Team USA feel during the Olympics.

The veteran defender pointed out that the standards are different for Team USA compared to the rest of the world. For USA Basketball, anything short of a gold medal is considered to be an abomination. On the other hand, other teams are often happy even with bronze and silver medals.

Green said that to not have that pressure this year was a great feeling for him.

“It’s a big difference to not having that pressure to win. When you are Team USA, the expectation is a gold medal. It’s crazy because I watch the Olympics and I see all these athletes celebrating [when] they get a bronze medal or a silver medal and they’re going crazy.”

“I’m like, if we get a silver medal, we can’t come back to America.”

 

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Green is not wrong in his assessment because the last time Team USA didn’t win gold was in 2004 during the Athens Olympics. After coming home with a bronze medal, they were ridiculed by the media for months. They no longer had the respect of the fans and became a pop culture reference for disappointment.

It took the 2008 Olympics team, led by the late, great Kobe Bryant to earn that respect back. Since then, Team USA has not missed their target of gold medals.

The four-time NBA Champion admitted that it was very stressful to have that pressure during the Olympics. However, he enjoyed the competition this year as a fan.

Draymond Green attended the gold medal game

The hype around USA Basketball for the Paris Olympics was surreal. After the recent loss in the FIBA World Cup, NBA veterans decided that they’d have to step into the ring once again. While Steph made his Olympic debut, LeBron and KD went in as veterans. Due to the sheer star power of the team, everyone was invested in the outcome.

Green also attended the gold medal game played between Team USA and France. In the final stretch, Steph put the team on his back, shooting four three-pointers in the concluding minutes of the game to guarantee a win for his team. Even though Green watched the game from the sidelines this time, he has had the gold medal wrapped around his neck in the past.

The 34-year-old has represented Team USA in two Olympic tournaments, Rio De Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020. On both occasions, Team USA had won gold.