Can this Team USA gel enough in time for the World Cup?
Team USA finally started practice in Las Vegas, with just three weeks left before the start of the FIBA World Cup. And coach Steve Kerr posed one question to the team ahead of practice.
"The idea is we are here to give you the very best possible experience that we can, with the knowledge that yes, you're gonna play in the NBA for years," he said to the players.
"But it's the experiences. Can you win? Can you bond with your teammates? Can you feel those moments in the locker room and say, 'Hell yeah. Nothing else matters.' That's what this is."
"There's a freedom to that. You just compete. We're gonna give you everything we have as the staff, you guys give us everything you have and it'll be an amazing experience."
Recall that this particular squad has not played together at all. Some have limited or virtually no senior FIBA experience.
Bobby Portis shared his USA Basketball memories, and it turned out to be one from 2012.
"Fast forward 11 years and I'm repping the USA, like that's cray," he said.
Austin Reaves was asked about his earliest USA Basketball memory and it was about Kobe Bryant silencing the crowd after a three-point shot.
Looks like Team USA is getting together, if this Jalen Brunson highlight is any indication.
Brandon Ingram said it best about trying to get used to playing with each other. Chemistry matters.
Team USA will first take New Zealand on August 26, Greece on August 28, and Jordan on August 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena.