LeBron James won the Olympic tournament MVP award, Steph Curry carried the U.S. to victories in the semifinals and gold medal game, and Kevin Durant broke the U.S. Olympic scoring record. However, Devin Booker did all the dirty work needed for all of them to shine.
Because of that, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr called D-Book the unsung MVP of the 2024 U.S. men's basketball team:
"He was incredible this entire round," said Kerr during the post-game press conference. "Just what he does, play to play to play. Rock solid. Completely changed his role from the NBA to now. He was kind of our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that."
Devin did the dirty work
Known primarily as a scorer in the NBA, his contributions in Paris went far beyond that. Booker displayed tremendous defense and hustle throughout the tournament while also helping space the floor with his consistent outside sniping.
The 27-year-old Phoenix Suns superstar started all six Olympic games for Team USA and played a total of 132 minutes, the 4th most on the team behind only LeBron, Steph, and KD. D-Book averaged 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in the tournament and was an aggregate +78 in six games for Team USA.
During Saturday's gold medal game, Curry put the game away in the fourth quarter. However, Book carried the U.S. in the first half with 13 points, two rebounds, and two assists on 5-7 shooting, including 2-3 from deep.
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Kerr called Booker the most adaptable player on Team USA
This isn't the first time that the Golden State head coach has praised D-Book's Team USA performance. After their first two group-stage games in the 2024 Olympics, Steve called Devin the most adaptable player on his team .
"He's such a big scorer in the league, but just like in Tokyo, he's adapted to being an on-ball guy, ball mover, the offense clicks when he's out there, and the defense is really good. That's why he's started every game and seems to be good with any combination," Kerr added .
Last September, Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma posed a Twitter question that asked if NBA stars would be willing to defend and get limited shots while playing for the U.S. Team. Booker replied to Kuz by telling him that he would do it. Devin did what he said he would do, and that's impressive stuff.
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