LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant are the three biggest superstars present in the Team USA squad, participating in the 2024 Olympics. Considering that this might be their last opportunity to play in the Summer Games before they retire, the three of them are gearing up to win a gold medal. However, Kevin Garnett believes that there might be an ulterior motive for James and other older players on the squad to participate in the quadrennial sporting event.
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While discussing the USA men’s Basketball team with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett explained why he believed that King James, Curry, and other veteran superstars were participating in the 2024 Paris Games. The coveted gold medal will certainly be on their mind. However, Garnett believes that the ulterior motive for them to represent the red, white, and blue is to have extra preparation for the 2024-2025 NBA season.
“This is my theory on why they jumped into USA because you can never get in game shape in the summer on your own… I’m telling you with Bron and everybody being older, you have to start a little earlier to get your body going in the summer. When they come into USA it’s going to be about preparing for that first week and getting them for that first push of the season,” Garnett explained himself.
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Considering that KG has represented Team USA in the past, he surely knows what he’s talking about. The older players on the roster will need much more time to prepare and get in shape for the regular season than the youngsters require in training camp. Additionally, Anthony Edwards’ improvement after playing the FIBA 2023 World Cup has also been a motivation, per the Big Ticket.
Garnett explains how Anthony Edwards improved after playing for Team USA in 2023
Anthony Edwards had a breakout season during the 2023-2024 campaign. Apart from recording career highs in major stats such as points, assists, and field goal percentage, Ant-Man also led the Minnesota Timberwolves to their best finish since the 2003-2004 season. According to KG, participating for Team USA in the FIBA 2023 World Cup was a big reason behind his improvement.
“Anthony Edwards made this jump because of the USA Basketball last year. That workout… How he was working out, I was like ‘he working out with a different temperature, he’s going to be a different player this year’.”
Edwards was utilized as the primary scoring option during the same tournament. Recording a team-high 18.9 points per game allowed him to improve his leadership as well. With Ant being utilized as one of the go-to scorers for the second unit, the Wolves franchise will hope that the 2024 Paris Games helps Edwards take the next big step in his game and play at an MVP level this upcoming season.
