Before tonight’s game between the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the experience of coaching Suns star Devin Booker at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“I just love the fact that when there’s discussion about the team, and before they select the team, (Booker) said, ‘Hey, I’ll play any role,'” said Spoelstra, who was an assistant on head coach Steve Kerr’s staff. “That’s what the USA program is all about. Everybody just commits for one common goal. It’s much different than the NBA. It’s a sprint and every one of us had different roles than you typically have in an NBA season.”
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.
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. because of the little things that he did, 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.
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 absolutely embraced (his role),” Spoelstra said. “He’s a winning player for sure. His role was really to defend the other team’s best wing players, to dog them, and pick up full-court play with physicality. He did it at an exceptional level. He just has a knack for scoring important baskets during swing moments, and he did that as well.”
He did it ???????? https://t.co/mTFTAd0TwL pic.twitter.com/kqUZNu5BFI
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 10, 2024
Spoelstra also discussed the recent play of Kevin Durant, who had a season-high 35 points and hit the game-winner in Phoenix’s fifth-straight win Monday, after coaching him in the Olympics.
“It’s the same thing we saw this summer,” Spoelstra said. “He’s as good as anybody who’s ever done it. He’s timeless. At his age, putting up these kind of scoring numbers, is really remarkable.”
Overall, Spoelstra was very grateful for his experience with Team USA, as the country won its fifth-straight gold medal.
“It was an iconic team. Those are life core memories,” Spoelstra said. “It was an incredible life experience. It was just a great basketball experience. The coaching staff, we got along really well. We’re on a text chain that we still text on today.
“It was a blast. We had a great time. It’s one of those things, it’s like lightning in a bottle.”
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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
