Ten years. It had been ten years since Stephen Curry had not worn the United States jersey again, and at the time, he was not in the spotlight when the United States won the World Cup in Spain. Ten years later, he is a two-time MVP and four-time NBA champion, but also a starter for Team USA, which began its preparation for the Olympic Games with a convincing victory against Canada.
The second-best scorer in the United States with 12 points, the Warriors' point guard shared his pleasure of playing with the 21,000 spectators in Las Vegas when he lay down on the ground after making a basket from the baseline.
“I was just having fun…”, he says about this pose. “I tried to get up but I got stuck, so I posed and took a second to have fun. You know I like to have fun and enjoy myself. It didn't take long for me to find an opportunity tonight.”
How do you play with so many stars?
Starting alongside Jrue Holiday, Stephen Curry was able to focus on the attack, and we will remember his pass behind the back for Jrue Holiday, or his nice pass for the alley-oop of LeBron James, followed by a smile that spoke volumes about his pleasure of playing with the “King”, but also of wearing the jersey of his country. The most important thing, according to him, is not to chase away the natural.
“It’s always a fun format when you get such a group of players together and it’s a challenge – as the coach said – to find the automatisms, the fluidity and the rhythm. Especially in attack. There’s the temptation to withdraw. There’s a big temptation to overthink every possession. Because everyone can play for themselves and make a difference. You have to try to keep the game as simple as possible.”
After dominating Canada, the United States heads to Abu Dhabi to challenge Australia and Serbia. More tough stuff. “We still have four games left, fortunately, and we'll see progress. It's just nice to get our legs going and play an important game in July. It's always a pleasure, and I love playing basketball!”
