Team USA was headlined by some incredible performances from Steph Curry and LeBron James at the Paris Olynmpics, so its easy forget about players like Devin Booker.
But Anthony Edwards and Team USA legend Carmelo Anthony both recently spoke about how important Booker’s role was to the team’s success.
“(Stephen Curry) had great games. (Kevin Durant) had great games,” Edwards said. “(LeBron James) had great games. But (Devin Booker) was like guarding the best player, turning down shots. ‘Cause Book (can) go for 70. Not gonna lie, I was impressed watching him.”
Booker is known for his offensive prowess in the NBA for the Suns, which is what made his performances in Paris all the more surprising.
With so many stars taking the lead on offense, he took his role on defense very seriously.
Not long after Edwards’ comments were made, Anthony was the next person to give Book his flowers after Team USA came home with their 27th Olympic basketball gold medal.
“The one person on the team who had to change their role was Devin Booker,” Carmelo said on 7PM in Brooklyn. “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’s impact was felt beyond the stat sheet, where he recorded 11.7 points, 3.3 assists, and 0.5 steals in 22 minutes on 56.8 percent shooting from the field and 56.5 percent from three.
Despite the NBA media largely ignoring impact players like Booker and choosing to focus on the LeBron / Steph narrative, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr made sure to shout out Booker right after the team won gold.
“He was incredible this entire round,” Kerr said of Booker. “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.”
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