US Men's Olympic Basketball Team Arrives at Vegas Camp

The words of Kobe Bryant, the late basketball legend, continue to reverberate in the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team as they prepare for their quest towards a fifth consecutive gold medal at the Paris Games later this month. Steve Kerr, who is serving as coach for the team, remembers how Bryant had once shrugged off concerns about other nations closing in on America's dominance in basketball with a simple "so what?" He had argued that if everyone else was improving their game, then it was imperative for the U.S. to do likewise. 

Kerr echoes this sentiment and believes it should be his team’s attitude going into these games: “Maybe we'll show that one to [Bryant's quote] to the guys," he said. "I love that." 

With months of planning behind them, now comes crunch time for Team USA - first practice begins Saturday which marks a four-day training camp before an exhibition opener against Canada on Wednesday. 

Stephen Curry was first to arrive at Las Vegas where players will start building chemistry from scratch. Although most have known each other for years due to playing together professionally or competing against one another during NBA seasons; becoming an actual cohesive unit starts here at training camp. 

For Bam Adebayo who seeks his second gold after Tokyo Games three years ago says - "You have those conversations within what we're trying through... And that's when it's really time to be honest about what we want." The goal is clear – win Gold! 

However recent performances including last year’s World Cup has been humbling experiences - finishing seventh and fourth respectively are hardly satisfactory results considering USA Basketball’s high standard expectation of winning every tournament participated in. 

This year though sees big names like LeBron James and Kevin Durant returning along with several other decorated Olympians such as Devin Booker Jrue Holiday Jayson Tatum Anthony Davis etc., alongside new faces like Kawhi Leonard Joel Embiid among others rounding out roster spots. 

As Kerr puts it - "It's a good problem to have... Our big job in Las Vegas is to find five-man combinations that fit and to just ask all 12 guys to fully commit to the goal of winning a gold medal no matter what it looks like, no matter who's playing." 

The team will play their first exhibition against Canada in Las Vegas before heading off for games at Abu Dhabi and London prior to the Paris Games. The Olympics begin July 28th with USA opening against Serbia then followed by group matches against South Sudan and Sunday’s qualifier winner out of Mexico Lithuania Italy Puerto Rico. 

"We've got 39 days or so to get locked into go get this gold medal, 12 amazing talented guys ready come together for one goal," said Stephen Curry upon his arrival for training camp. The stage is set as Team USA seeks another golden glory under the shadow of Kobe Bryant’s inspiring words.