No doubt, Team USA and Devin Booker are having a moment after winning gold at the Paris Olympics this summer. The combination of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry (kind of his first Games) makes it cool to forgo a summer vacation and represent your country.
The great love for Booker is because he so readily accepted his role on the road to gold. Of course, he could have scored 30 points in most games, but instead he backed up his “I’ll get it done” claims by defending at a high level and playing excellently in the galaxy of stars he found.
Embedded in the amazing video Booker posted about his experience – which you can watch in full on his Instagram page – was the clip of Anthony Edwards saying after his win: “See you in LA, boy! Yeah, we’ll see our boy in LA! Book and I are running the show in LA, you know what I mean?”
So Edwards clearly believes he and Booker will be back together in four years, and there’s plenty of reason to believe Edwards didn’t get carried away by the situation either. If nothing else, Team USA will definitely need Booker in Los Angeles, where the pressure to defend the crown will be at an all-time high.
This group also lacks James and Durant – both of whom are likely to retire – while Curry has already said that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for him. This makes Booker, then 31, one of the veterans now seeking his third gold medal.
With Jayson Tatum unable to perform at the Olympics with the kind of performances expected of a newly crowned champion, having an elite scorer who also knows how to play his role becomes even more important. Booker isn’t exactly known for scoring national runs every cycle like Carmelo Anthony, but Durant’s GOAT status for Team USA has undoubtedly rubbed off on him.
What role does Edwards play in all of this? He’s already said he’ll be there, and at this point he could be the face of the league. He seems to be Durant’s spiritual successor – the man just wants to play basketball – and he won’t turn 27 until a week after the games end. It’s also nice to see Edwards wanting to play with Booker after spending the summer hanging out with Durant. Only 10 roster spots left for LA