Featured Pros Suns

Kevin Durant & Devin Booker make their marks on Paris Olympics, on & off the court

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Phoenix’s impact on the 2024 Olympics started by sending the Mercury’s Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Kahleah Copper and the Suns’ Devin Booker, Kevin Durant to represent the US in Paris.

As the women advance to the gold medal game following their 60th straight victory, the men head to the championship after coming back from down 17 against Serbia in an instant classic.

“This is the best game I ever played in,” Durant said. “How can you not celebrate a win like that?…That’s what this is about. We all come together as one on the other side of the world like this…It was special…We gotta celebrate the small moments too. Everybody in here gonna remember this night for the rest of they lives.”

Five MVP’s on the court battling to take one more step toward Olympic immortality. Like Durant said…how can you not celebrate it?

After Team USA inched closer and closer throughout the third – it all came together in the fourth quarter – a 10 minute sprint in FIBA.

“It was a sequence of plays that built confidence and momentum,” Stephen Curry said. “You understood the moment and the stakes and the uncomfortable nature of being down for so much of the game and having 10 minutes to come back.”

In the final period of play, the US down 11 with 7:21 to go, the Americans went on a run that could only be described as basketball poetry.

A Durant and-one trey followed by a Devin Booker three-pointer to force a timeout.

“When Devin Booker hit the three at the top of the key, that’s when I felt the momentum shift and we capitalized off of it from there,” Curry said. “It seemed like everybody made the shot that they needed and we got the stops that we needed.”

Durant elbow jumper. Joel Embiid pullup jumper. Embiid and-one. Durant rips a rebound away from Nikola Milutinov. Embiid stepback jumper. LeBron’s tough layup to tie it. Curry’s triple for the lead. LeBron’s transition layup to push it to 3. Curry’s steal and bucket. Don’t look now – Americans up 5 with 1:41 remaining.

And then, in what felt like the nail in the coffin, it was the Slim Reaper who buried them.

Durant called his own number once he realized Bogdan Bogdanović was guarding him. Bogdanović had been talking trash all game – using USA great Carmelo Anthony’s signature three-to-the-dome celebration and staring Anthony down as he did. LeBron, Durant, and the fellas didn’t take that lightly. Melo didn’t either, hyping up Durant to go at Bogdanović.

Durant called for the Iso, left Bogdanović in the dust with a nasty crossover and knocked down the jumper. Booker later tagged Anthony in an instagram story where he’s doing Melo’s celebration: “Respect the legends,” he wrote.

Outside of allowing too many offensive rebounds, they were close to perfect down the stretch and they needed to be.

In an Olympics where so much basketball history is being made, including Durant passing Lisa Leslie as the all-time USA Basketball scoring leader, no one would celebrate a Bronze medal around here.

In order to finish the job, they’ll need stars to play their roles. Even someone as talented as Jayson Tatum hasn’t quite found his place in the rotation, as opposed to Booker – who has absolutely excelled on both ends of the court for a second straight Olympics.

“Let me tell you who’s been an unsung hero throughout this entire tournament – it has been Devin Booker,” Kendrick Perkins said. “Devin Booker has been phenomenal. Devin Booker was in the game yesterday when it mattered the most. He played his role to a T. Sliding, getting over screens, holding his corners, spacing the floor, doing everything that he needed to do to star in his role and help his team win.”

Booker’s also been the unsung hero off the court, giving us a ton of behind-the-scenes content from his camcorder:

Thanks to Booker, we’re getting a true look at an athlete’s perspective of the Olympics.

Not to mention him gifting a random basketball fan rocking his jersey in Paris a new pair of his Book 1’s:

You pair that along with Durant having full-on basketball debates with fans on X and they’re a couple of the most entertaining players out there.

How rare is it to have a basketball legend who’s really willing to talk about the game and yes, get real about how he feels about you, the fan, too.

This is the same guy who joined an X Spaces discussing whether he is or isn’t a top five player. I listened the entire time he was on – he was curious, respectful, informative, and was trying to have a real conversation – even when others were not.

He’s not the only player thinking these things – just one of the rare guys in league history willing to be honest about it all – good and bad.

Right now, there’s a whole lot more good, as the men’s team stares down its fifth straight gold and the women target their eighth straight.

“Hopefully, when we have a gold medal around our neck, go win tomorrow, we’ll be able to reminisce on all of it,” Curry said.

The men will face France on Saturday at 12:30 PM (MST) while the women will face France on Sunday at 6:30 AM (MST).

Related posts:

Arizona Sports News online

The Next Man Up, Suns Edition: Marcus Morris Arizona Sports News online

Five Early Takeaways from the Summer Suns Arizona Sports News online

Social Media reacts to Robert Sarver’s sale announcement

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Bobby Marks “Phoenix is no closer to winning a championship”