Devin Booker’s ability to adapt his role to whatever Team USA needed during its Olympic gold medal run did not go unnoticed to those around the NBA.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!During his Formula Zero 2024 Elite Camp in Phoenix, Milwaukee Bucks star guard Damian Lillard was asked about if he could use Booker’s willingness to transition from a star player to a perfect role player as a teaching tool.
“Absolutely,” said Lillard, who played with Booker on Team USA in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “Anytime you look at a guy who’s a superstar player in the league and is humble enough and has a winning mentality, so he’s a star amongst stars. Everybody can’t be the star. Everybody can’t have the ball, everybody can’t score the points. Somebody gotta be willing to play the role and just contribute to what the ultimate goal is.
“Watching the games, I thought it was extremely obvious that he went into it with that mentality. Like, ‘I’m going to pick guys up full court, I’m gonna get into the ball, make open shots. I’m gonna compete for the team.’ I think it takes a special type of person to take that role when there’s so many outside voices and people talking about everything. He definitely did that.”
(via AZ Central’s Dana Scott, Fox 10’s Richard Saenz)
Damian Lillard to @RSaenzFox10 on why he could use the humility of Suns’ Devin Booker being a superstar but his willingness to be a role player for Team USA as a teaching tool at Lillard’s Formula Zero Elite Camp. pic.twitter.com/4LOLSH7PxH
— DANA (@iam_DanaScott) August 16, 2024
Booker led the U.S. with a +130 plus/minus through the team’s six Olympic games and five exhibition matchups. He had a team-high 18 points in the U.S.’s quarterfinals win over Brazil and 15 points, including a team-high 13 in the first half, in the gold medal win over France, while starting alongside four MVPs in Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid.
However, as Lillard pointed out, it was more of the little things that Booker did that made him such a valuable piece, including picking up players full court, fighting through screens, being a floor spacer offensively, making the right pass as needed, crashing the offensive glass and much more.
Team USA coach Steve Kerr called Booker the “unsung MVP” of the team, while multiple media members referred to Booker as an “unsung hero.” Overall, fans were very appreciative of what Booker brought to the table.
In his six Olympic games, Booker averaged 11.7 points on 56.8% shooting from the field, 56.5% shooting from 3 and 3.3 assists in 22 minutes per game.
He did it ???????? https://t.co/mTFTAd0TwL pic.twitter.com/kqUZNu5BFI
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 10, 2024
Booker will look to carry this strong play over to the start of the Suns season and build off of it in his future international career. The Suns do not play Lillard’s Bucks until March 24 in the 2024-25 season.
Steve Kerr calls Devin Booker ‘unsung MVP’ of Team USA after gold medal win
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
