Devin Booker was one of the biggest contributors on Team USA at the Paris Olympics, though his production could make it seem like he wasn't. Booker sacrificed his role of a scorer to essentially be a role-playing 3-and-D swingman throughout the Olympics, something teammate Anthony Edwards has given him huge credit for.
“Steph had great games, he (KD) had great games, LeBron had great games, but Book was guarding the best player, turning down shots, Book (can) go for seventy, not gonna lie, I was impressed watching him.”
Booker's contributions have gone unappreciated compared to the heaps of praise being doled out to other team members outside the trio of LeBron James , Stephen Curry , and Kevin Durant . People are recognizing Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis for their incredible defense, while also praising Edwards for accepting a role off the bench. But Booker was a Swiss Army knife for Team USA.
Booker averaged 11.7 points and 3.3 assists through the Olympics, but the stats are deceiving. He took on the hardest perimeter matchup in any minutes without Jrue Holiday or Derrick White on the floor, holding his own while being an offensive conduit who was connecting plays from one end of the court to the other without selfishly taking shots.
The Phoenix Suns are overly reliant on Booker, so he won't be playing this sort of ball with them given his offensive workload. However, this shows that Booker could be a very impactful off-ball threat on both ends of the court if locking into the end on a night when Bradley Beal or Durant are carrying the team's offense.
Devin Booker: The Unsung Hero For Team USA
One of the first things Team USA head Steve Kerr did after the Gold medal was secured was call Booker the unsung MVP of the team for playing the role that he did to perfection.
"Devin Booker is an incredible basketball player. Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that."
Carmelo Anthony recently used the same words to describe Booker's contributions to the team on his latest podcast.
"The one person on the team who had to change their role was Devin Booker. I've accepted the role of being a pick-and-pop guy... Devin Booker comes from that. In college, he came from that. He came off the bench. He's used to earning his minutes and working his way and hard work. People forget about that. He was more adaptable to that role. He was the unsung hero on that team. That's hard to do."
Booker will hope to parlay this offseason success into the NBA season in October as the Suns look to break through and win the first title in franchise history. Booker's been trying to replicate the magic of their 2021 run to the NBA Finals, but the last three seasons have not gone to plan.
Hopefully, spending the summer with Durant on Team USA allows Booker to enter the seasons charged to make a deep run, culminating with a championship parade in Phoenix.
Related: Carmelo Anthony Rips Team USA Over How They Handled Jayson Tatum's Playing Time
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