These Team USA basketball players at the Rio Olympics like each other
RIO DE JANEIRO – As Olympic Games story lines go, this isn’t the kind of thing normally worth a headline.
The breaking news here, in essence, is that Team USA men’s basketball players really like each other.
Zzzzzzzz…..
But after seeing this lovefest up close during their Las Vegas training camp, then seeing it again when they ran over China in a July 24 exhibition game at Oracle Arena and yet again in the early days here, it’s worth discussing for two reasons.
1) It’s clearly real – much more than a cliché talking point. You can see the fun they’re having in their interactions, in front of the cameras and away from them. The most visible/viral example of this was the “A Thousand Miles” sing-along that was taped by the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan on a team plane bound for Houston and inspired by Jimmy Butler (much more on him later). Barring a shocking loss at some point in this journey that begins Saturday against China, the fun will likely continue until the end.
2) Because this is how it should be. Whether it’s hoops, gymnastics, swimming, badminton or any other sporting venture in this five-ring show, you’d like to think Olympians, by and large, are happy and proud to be here.
Yet because NBA players live such different sporting lives than most every other athlete here, you could see how they might take this unique experience for granted. What’s more, it would be fair to wonder if they might carry themselves with an air of elitism as athletes who were stars long before they became Olympians. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.
When a reporter asked Kyrie Irving on Friday if he were ready to take endless Opening Ceremony selfies with athletes who may have watched his Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA title two months ago, he noted how he wanted selfies with plenty of his fellow Olympians, too – Michael Phelps chief among them. In that same we’re-no-better-than-the-rest-of-them vein, Carmelo Anthony is trying his hardest to push back against the narrative that Team USA’s decision to stay on a cruise ship rather than the athletes village is somehow a sign of a superiority complex. It’s quite clear he doesn’t like the perception.
As he said Friday, this is nothing new. Ever since the pros starting taking part in the Games in 1992 (when the Dream Team stayed at a luxury hotel in Barcelona), they’ve stayed away from the village. Ironically, Anthony lamented during his Olympics debut in 2004 that their cruise ship accommodations in Athens left the players feeling, well, like they were on an island.
But back to this fun bunch…
The chemistry has manifested itself in a number of ways, but none quite so comical as this business about Jimmy Butler’s playlist. The Chicago Bulls guard has taken criticism for his musical taste before, most notably when then-teammate Nazr Mohammed shared a video of Butler dancing to a Taylor Swift song in the locker room in March of 2015. But it was his playlist that included the “A Thousand Miles” pop hit from Vanessa Carlton and provided such a relatable, hysterical moment for all to see, and that was more than enough to cost Butler his turn at the team’s proverbial turntable. The best part was at the end, where DeRozan’s cell phone camera catches the resident elder in the group, the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, shooting a disapproving glare his way as so many of the players sang.
“I don’t think Carmelo is going to give him access to the speaker anytime soon,” Clippers center DeAndre Jordan said.
As DeRozan explained it, “When we got on the plane nobody had their playlist ready to play the music. Jimmy did, so he started playing songs. He played about five or six songs, and (“A Thousand Miles”) was probably the best song that everybody knew. We just put it up, and it was funny.
“Jimmy listens to everything, from country to rock to everything you wouldn’t imagine. So it was more so that it was early in the morning, and it was funny to hear.”
Anthony, somewhat surprisingly, took the politically correct route in discussing the matter.
“(Butler) actually has a pretty good playlist,” he said. “I think just that day (of “A Thousand Miles” fame) it was too early in the morning and the flight was early. It had nothing to do with the song. They knew that I was tired, and they were playing the song loud in my face.”
Jokes aside, there’s real meaning to this for the players themselves.
“How much everybody is joking around, that’s good to see because it lightens the mood a lot,” said Butler, 26, playing in his first Olympics. “It starts when you wake up and goes until you sleep. There’s forever jokes going around here.
“You can always smile, just knowing that you’re always going to be happy around these guys. When everybody wants you to do well, it’s a good feeling.
He’s hardly alone in this sentiment.
“It’s fun, man,” Anthony said. “We clicked quick, after the first couple days of training camp.”
And Jordan.
“It brings so many different personalities together,” he said. “There are guys who I never thought I’d hang out with off the floor (getting along), so it’s been cool man. We’ll be bonded for life after this. It definitely surprised me. It’s less than a month (together), and I love all these guys, from ’Melo to (the Golden State Warriors’) Draymond (Green) to DeMar – everybody. Even big Cuz (the Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins). It’s cool to be around, man.”
And DeRozan.
“It’s a great time, just to be a part of this whole opportunity, to be here,” he said. “It’s amazing. The last couple of mornings, I woke up, and you still don’t believe that you’re part of the Olympics.”