"Is this normal?": Steve Kerr on LeBron James going at full speed for Team USA in year 22
Even after witnessing LeBron James’ dominance through four NBA Finals matchups, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr struggled to process what he just saw.
In Team USA’s first practice here on Saturday nearly three weeks before the Paris Olympics, Kerr admired how the 39-year-old James competed in every drill and scrimmage with full intensity.
“I was blown away by how hard he practices,” Kerr said.
High praise considering Kerr coached against James when he led the Cleveland Cavaliers as the first NBA team to overcome a 3-1 Finals series deficit at Golden State’s expense in the 2016 Finals. So Kerr turned to his Team USA assistant coaches that that once coached him with the Miami Heat (Erik Spoelstra) and the Cavs (Tyronn Lue).
“Is this normal?” Kerr asked. Both Lue and Spoelstra remarked, “every day.”
James competed that way despite not exactly needing another piece of hardware to enhance his legacy. He already has won four NBA championships. He already has become the NBA’s all-time leader in scoring. He already has collected two other Olympic gold medals in Beijing (2008) and London (2012).
What value does James attach toward shrinking his offseason at the expense of added recovery and even missing the chance to see his son, Bronny, make his NBA debut in the California Classic on Saturday in San Francisco?
“I’m still playing at a high level. I still love the game of basketball,” James said. “Team USA has been done well by me. So I felt like it was important for this summer to be able to go out there and play the rest of the guys and play for Team USA. It’s always been extremely fun.”
Just like with his NBA career, James doesn’t need to improve that he can win on the biggest change. Just like with his NBA career, James can always add additional accomplishments to enhance his standing among the greats.
James missed the past two Olympic games to recharge following an exhausting NBA Finals (2016) and after two compressed NBA seasons during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021). James has a chance to eclipse Michael Jordan for Olympic goal medals (two) and trail closer behind Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant (four each). James could also solidify himself in two statistical categories. Though Durant could finish with an Olympic record five gold medals, James could at least narrow the scoring gap. Durant remains USA Basketball’s all-time leading scorer (435 points) ahead of Anthony (336) and James (273). James holds USA Basketball’s all-time assists record (88) ahead of Chris Paul.
Team USA boasts a handful of quality scorers (Durant, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker), shooters (Stephen Curry) and big men (Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis). That leaves James with a strong chance to rack triple-digit assists during his whole Olympics career.
“My game is whatever the team calls for, I’ll be able to provide,” James said. “If it’s a game where I need to score in bunches, I can provide that. If it’s a game where I need to be high in assists games, I can provide that, too. I always try to have my game ready and prepare for whatever the game needs and the team needs at that moment. Nothing changes with this team. But it’s going to be easy for me. You’re playing with potentially 11 other Hall of Famers. You can really just go out and let the game come to you.”
Taking attendance
Kerr said that Kawhi Leonard participated in all of Saturday’s practices, including what he called “controlled scrimmages.” That should be comforting news considering Leonard missed the LA Clippers’ final eight regular-season games along with Games 1, 4 and 6 of their first-round playoff series loss to the Dallas Mavericks because of right knee inflammation.
Kerr said that Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum missed Saturday’s session for “personal reasons” and that he’s expected to return for Monday’s session.
Who will start for Team USA?
James playfully chastised a reporter that analyzed the possibility that he could come off the bench. Generally, though, James stressed whatever Coach Kerr and his staff needs me to do, I’ll do whatever for this team.”
It’s a safe guess that James, Durant and Curry will start. But for what it’s worth, Kerr stressed he has not made any firm decisions with the ultimate first-world basketball problem.
“We are purposely going to just throw all kinds of different combinations out there,” Kerr said. “We don’t have any thoughts right now or concerns I should say on who’s going to star. It’s really about just getting everybody together.”
Kerr also suggested that he will have a different starting lineup for Team USA’s exhibition games against Canada (Tuesday in Las Vegas), Australia (July 15 in Abu Dhabi), Serbia (July 17 in Abu Dhabi), South Sudan (July 20 in London) and Germany (July 22-23, London).
“Everybody understands this is a very unique situation,” Kerr said. “There are all not only starters, but superstars and future Hall-of-Famers. They all deserve to start. But only five can. We’ll figure it out.”
Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.