FIBA World Cup 2023

May as well give this a thread of its own.

Steve Kerr, Team USA arrive in Spain with a roster full of happily paid players: ‘It’s a healthy environment’

By Joe Vardon
Aug 10, 2023
39

FUENGIROLA, Spain – Josh Hart stared into the blue light of his computer screen.

He was on a training table at the Team USA hotel getting treatment before practice, with his wife, Shannon, watching him on FaceTime.

Where Hart is in the world right now, on the southern coast of Spain, in a resort community in the province of Malaga, with the Mediterranean Sea nearby and Morocco just 25 miles across the water, and with the Sierra La Blanca mountain range glistening in the sun behind the hotel, is easy on the eyes.

Even easier, the blinking cursor over the blank line on the DocuSign version of his four-year, $81 million contract extension with the New York Knicks.

One click on Thursday morning and Hart and his wife would remember Malaga forever, even though she isn’t here and his reason for the trip is to get ready for the FIBA World Cup with Team USA.

“It was actually pretty cool, I was just laying down on the training table, getting some treatment, on FaceTime with her and signing the contract,” Hart said. “It meant a lot. I wasn’t highly touted coming out of high school, wasn’t highly regarded in the draft, went through free agency the first time and I was restricted, it was a terrible experience for me, so to be able to do this, it’s a dream come true – just being able to have something that can take care of my parents, my family, my kids.

“So I mean, it’s hard to put into words,” Hart continued. “It’s really dope. My game, my style, my play, it’s not always the most glamorous, so it definitely shows that hard work pays off.”

Hart knew the extension was imminent, which was why he sat out the Americans’ first exhibition game Monday in Las Vegas. His teammates knew why, too, but they didn’t find out the particulars of the deal until they were on the court Wednesday, at an exclusive gym called “The Embassy,” situated about a half mile below the hotel, and above the Mediterranean. As The Athletic and ESPN reported the deal on Twitter, Jalen Brunson checked his phone and announced to the Team USA men working through shooting drills that Hart would be buying dinner. He would go on to Tweet the same sentiment.

“I had a little dinner last night, good wine,” Hart admitted. “A Vega Sicilia Unico, a 2011 vintage, so, it was good. Went down to a little restaurant, it was kinda right by the water. The thing I love about going to Europe is you have great wine at great prices.”

Hart was thrilled that his bottle, which would normally cost about 650 euros only set him back about 350 euros Wednesday. He is the fifth Team USA player this summer to sign a contract with his NBA team that is so large, he could buy every bottle in the restaurant.

As Team USA coach Steve Kerr said on Thursday, part of the trip to this Spanish beach town is to work — there are games Saturday and Sunday against Slovenia and Spain, respectively — and “part of this experience is the cultural part.”

“We’re getting to travel the world and see places we may never see again,” said Kerr, who on Thursday was presented newspaper photographs by a local reporter of when Kerr played for Team USA, in Malaga, in the World Championship (now the World Cup) in 1986.

“We are going to encourage our guys to get out.”

There is no exclusive night out planned for the Team USA five who’ve gotten big bags of money this summer, but there could easily be. Tyrese Haliburtonand Anthony Edwards each signed five-year, $260 million extensions with the Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively, while Cam Johnson (Brooklyn Nets, five years and $100 million) and Austin Reaves (Los Angeles Lakers, four years and $56 million) signed new contracts.

“Yeah, that’s my kids’ kids’ money, for sure,” said Edwards, who couldn’t wait to get to the nearby casino after practice. “It doesn’t matter (which player’s contract we’re talking about), that’s a lot of money.”

One on hand, it should not be a surprise that Team USA’s roster is made up of players on massive contracts. For decades, now, the American team has been composed of top, or at least upper echelon NBA talent. The five mentioned above are worthy to be on this team, so the theory goes that they of course should be in line for a huge payday if they haven’t gotten one already.

(For instance, Mikal Bridges signed a four-year, $91 million extension last summer, Jaren Jackson Jr. inked his four-year, $105 million extension two summers ago, and Brunson signed a free-agent deal with the Knicks last summer for four years and $104 million. All 12 players are under multiyear deals, with Paolo Banchero and Walker Kessler working on their rookie contracts.)

But also, this Team USA squad is different by the program’s lofty standards, insofar as there is no one on the roster with any national team experience, and only three of the 12 were All-Stars in 2023.

By design, this is a roster of mostly up-and-coming players (Bobby Portis is more of a veteran) with something to prove, so from that standpoint the five big contracts coming through the same summer that the players who signed them are on the World Cup team is a coincidence with teeth.

“It means, number one, we’re signing good players,” Kerr said. “We’ve got a talented roster, but we’re also very pleased that we don’t have anybody who is worried about a contract. These guys are all locked in for multiple years. In this competition, it’s six weeks, you’ve got to be able to play through some bumps and bruises. You don’t want to get locked into a situation where a guy is worried about a contract, and then we have a big game the next night.

“So it’s a healthy environment for the current team.”

Haliburton, who was first approached about playing for Team USA during All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City, where he was a participant, said this is a team with 12 players who feel they have something to prove.

“And I think that’s the biggest part about this summer in this group,” Haliburton said. “I have something to prove. Everybody’s like, ‘I want to prove that I’m, you know, a star in this league or that I deserve this money.’ Everybody’s got little things that they want to prove. So I think that’s a good thing that we all share.”

Haliburton said he was up for “whatever Malaga has to offer … with the least amount of walking.”

Reaves said the contracts also prove something about these players who, as Haliburton said, have something to prove.

“It shows that playing the right way still matters,” said Reaves, a self-pronounced “homebody” with no major plans set for time off in Malaga. “I can’t speak for Josh, but I bet if you ask him the same thing about playing the game, he plays it. He does the right thing and plays the right way. He’s a super competitor, and it all just shows that playing the right way still matters.”

 

Luka injured again..

 

is this game going to be on TV?

 

Blow ? In the nuts? Elsewhere?

 

YES!! .... whoot .... whoot

Fox Sports 1 at 12:30pm Pacific

Probably some bootleg streamers too?

 

LOL .... these guys!! Probably the dude on the left receiving the kick .... does that 10 times a day everyday to toughen them up.

 

Without Luka it is going to be 60-70 points blowout

 

Reaves with 10 points.Easy blowout by 30.
Sometimes this Team USA reminds Lakers , they can't make 3 points

 

ANT is a really good defender too.(?) Can the Lakers just have him?

 

I'm on record here, he's "next". I've always loved that kids game. He's dangerously good for how raw he sometimes looks.

 

Austin plays latter third quarter into about 4 minutes of the 4th and then takes a breather before coming back in the last 3-4 minutes to close the game in crunch time. Seems to be the plan now. Yeah …. seems Kerr likes him a lot.

 

3 of the 5 involving Austin. Not too shabby

 

Need to find where Justin Russo found this box score for the Puerto Rico game, that @Panko posted ….. for after the Slovenia game and every dang game. Don’t want to follow that guy as he is some kind of Clippers beat writer, and also have to wade through all of THAT garbage.

 

Nets beat writer with the hookup