The Rio Olympics is just a couple days away, and the Team USA basketball squad has officially arrived in Rio for the Summer Games.
There’s no team in the NBA with more players on Team USA than the Warriors. They have 3 players participating: Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
The only other team with multiple players is the Toronto Raptors, which their backcourt duo of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
#USABMNT's @hbarnes & @Klow7 hit the court on Day 1 in Rio de Janeiro. ??? pic.twitter.com/Jhx92jR7i5
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 3, 2016
Add the fact that the last team that Harrison Barnes suited up for was the Warriors, and this USA team is overflowing with Warriors connections.
Barnes signed with the Dallas Mavericks as a result of the Durant acquisition. After 4 seasons of being teammates with Thompson and Green, Team USA is really going to benefit from that chemistry and cohesion.
Team USA has a quarter of the team that won an NBA championship one season and then 73 wins the next. They’re in good hands.
Barnes is about to embark on a new challenge in Dallas, and this tournament is serving as an unofficial transition towards that new task.
It’s one last chance to play alongside 2 players who he has been fortunate enough to grow alongside with.
Green in particular is always going to be linked to him in Warriors’ lore because of that remarkable 2012 draft class.
Arrived and officially accredited! #USA #RoadToRio #USABWNT #USABMNT ???? @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/oPu6iY138o
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 3, 2016
A team is lucky to get one rotation player per draft, but the Warriors being able to secure Barnes, Green, and Festus Ezeli in one draft will be looked upon as a pivotal moment in building their eventual championship team.
Had the Warriors won game 7 of the NBA Finals this season, they might very well have re-signed Barnes and not pursued Durant.
In the closing moments of that heartbreaking game 7 loss, I wonder if Barnes had a sneaking suspicion that the team was about to go through a drastic metamorphosis.
As he attempts to step into a bigger role with the Mavericks, Barnes can use these Olympics as a final confidence boost before his new test.
We wish Team USA luck in these Olympics, but they’re realistically not going to need any luck. They have proven to be the far superior team in this field, and it would be shocking if they didn’t bring home the gold.