Steve Kerr has been around plenty of superstars in his career. He’s played alongside Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan, played for Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, and coached Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. But even he was struck by the caliber of players all around him this past weekend as Team USA convened for its first practice of the summer on the UNLV campus.
“They’re Hall of Famers,” he said, smiling. “It’s remarkable to see the talent in front of me as I’m addressing the team.” As Kerr spoke to the assembled media, Anthony Edwards was on the far end of the court, cracking jokes as he watched LeBron James shoot free throws.
Forty feet to Edwards’s left, Curry was practicing 3-pointers, wincing every time the ball didn’t go perfectly through the net. The star-studded roster heading to Paris for the Summer Olympics will also include Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, and Jrue Holiday, all of whom won golds in past years; Tyrese Haliburton, a standout from last year’s FIBA World Cup; and Joel Embiid and Kawhi Leonard, who will make their USA debuts. Combined, the team accounts for 14 gold medals in major international competition.
“This is one of the most unique and special gatherings of talent that USA Basketball has ever had,” Kerr told me by phone last month. “Probably right up there with the ‘92 Dream Team when you think of the star power.” Kerr, a USA assistant under Popovich for the Tokyo Olympics before t.