During his appearance on 'The Draymond Green Show,' Baron Davis openly accused Mike Krzyzewski of harboring a long-standing grudge against him, especially after he chose UCLA over Duke for his college career.
The two-time All-Star pointed out that he wasn't even considered for the tryouts to make the 'Redeem Team' in the 2008 Olympics, let alone being thought about as a legit candidate for the squad. Baron featured in all regular season games that year, averaging 20+ points per game, and led the league in steals a season before, making him certain that Coach K 'hated' him.
"I always felt like… Coach K would hate on me, " Davis said . "I was right about that. He hated on me. During the Olympic tryouts, I was coming off 23 (points), 8 (rebounds), and I didn't get a tryout. Name 30 people better than me. Okay? Name 12, Name four guards better than me."
Baron sounded off on not even being called for the tryouts
As Davis rightly mentioned, he did make a strong case for being among the best guards in the two seasons before Team USA made their way to Beijing. In the two campaigns leading up to the Olympics, B-Diddy led the league in steals with a tally of 2.1 while also averaging 20.9 points and 7.7 assists per game in both years combined.
Furthermore, his frustration was compounded when he learned that Luke Ridnour, who had averaged 6.4 points and 4.0 assists per game in the 2007-08 season, had gotten an invite for the tryouts. This stark contrast in performance yet opposite treatment convinced the California native that Coach K had deliberately excluded him from consideration.
"Are you fu***ng kidding me?" Davis added. "This is ill, homie."
Related: Penny Hardaway recalls debuting the Nike Foamposite: "Penny cannot wear those shoes again on the road"
Did Davis deserve a place on The Redeem Team?
Point guards like Jason Kidd and Chris Paul, who averaged 10.1 assists and 11.6 assists per game, respectively, in the '07-08 season (with CP3 leading the league in assists), were brought in to play the role of facilitator rather than scorer. Deron Williams also averaged 10.5 assists and 18.8 points per game that season.
As the statistics suggest, Coach K had better alternatives for the role of facilitator on a team that already had prolific scorers like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade. That being said, Davis' biggest disappointment was perhaps not even being considered for the tryouts.
Related: Jaylen Brown seems to be unhappy about not replacing Kawhi Leonard on Team USA: "Nike, this what we doing?"
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