LeBron James, Anthony Davis and USA Basketball begin their Olympic run on Sunday morning when they take on Nikola Jokic and Serbia in the first game of group play.
The two Los Angeles Lakers stars were arguably USA’s best players during their exhibition games and will be key for the team moving forward if they want to win gold.
Specifically in a matchup against Jokic and Serbia, Team USA will need its big men in Davis, Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo ready to go. That trio was devastating defensively in the exhibition win over Serbia.
Unfortunately though, Davis and Embiid are both dealing with illnesses although head coach Steve Kerr expects both to be able to play on Sunday, via Brian Windshorst of ESPN:
Having the two best big men dealing with illness when facing a three-time NBA MVP isn’t ideal, but that is what Team USA is dealing with as it readies to open Olympic play.
Joel Embiid missed practice Saturday with an illness, while coach Steve Kerr said that Anthony Davis had missed practice time over the past several days with illness just ahead of the national team’s opener against Nikola Jokic and Serbia on Sunday.
Kerr, however, isn’t worried anyone will be forced to miss the game, as Davis was able to practice Saturday.
“I’m confident we’ll have everybody ready [Sunday],” Kerr said.
Davis also discussed how he is looking forward to the matchup with Jokic, further confirming that he will be suiting up:
“Jokic, with what he’s able to do, obviously we know what he does at NBA, but maybe a little bit higher usage in the international game,” said Davis, who was still a little stuffed up. “It’s going to be fun.”
Matchups between Davis and Jokic are always sure to entertain. While the reigning NBA MVP and the Denver Nuggets have gotten the better of the Lakers the last couple seasons, Davis should have the upper-hand in international play considering the talent he has around him with USA.
While Davis has been coming off the bench for Kerr, he should still see significant minutes on Sunday to help defend Jokic.
Anthony Davis emphasizes that USA can’t take opponents lightly
Even though USA Basketball is the most talented team by far in the 2024 Olympics, Anthony Davis emphasized that they cannot take any of their opponents lightly.
“We don’t take any team for granted,” Davis told reporters on Thursday. “We don’t come in like, ‘Oh, we’re the Monstars. We’re going to crush everybody.’ Those days are long over. We have so much respect for every team we’re going to face, and we’re going to approach it that way.”
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