Auburn HC Bruce Pearl credits LeBron James & Kevin Durant for Team USA's impressive 2024 Summer Olympics start

The LeBron James-led Team USA basketball has taken over Olympic conversations after just one game with Bruce Pearl also joining in. The Auburn Tigers coach showed appreciation for the team as they won 110-84 over Nikola Jokić's Serbia on Sunday.

Kevin Durant came off the bench and posted 23 points while going 5-for-5 from deep. He also maintained perfect scoring from the field during the first half and finished with 8-of-9 shots made. LeBron James scored 21 points and took seven rebounds and nine assists.

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"USA played great basketball at both ends! Fun to watch these Pros care so much about the game and representing!," Bruce Pearl wrote on X.

The current Team USA roster has garnered much attention with the inclusion of NBA greats like LeBron, KD, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis, and Jrue Holiday. They are now 1-0 in Group C with games scheduled against South Sudan and Puerto Rico on August 1 and 2, respectively.

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Bruce Pearl celebrates a decade with the Auburn Tigers

After he led Tennessee to a NCAA Championship win in 2010, Bruce Pearl was offered a position at Auburn and joined the team in March 2014. This upcoming season marks his eleventh year with the Tigers.

When Pearl arrived at Auburn, The Tigers had not won any post-season championship in decades. With Pearl at the help, Auburn has had five NCAA Tournament runs, including one Final Four appearance, and won two SEC regular-season championships and two SEC Tournament titles.

When talking about his work in rebuilding a faltering men's basketball program, Pearl said:

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“People that know me know that I do care about history, know that I do care about Auburn being an everything school, and I do care about the fact that in men's basketball, we just weren't competitive. And I knew that Auburn was enjoying so much success in so many other places that I felt like we could, and I feel grateful and blessed that we are.”

He was also responsible for driving up attendance to Auburn games. The program has lost many fans due to poor seasons. In the 2013-14 season, they averaged over 3,000 empty seats per game.

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“I recognized that to win championships, you’ve got to win at home and you’ve got to win some on the road that you’re not supposed to win. And to do that you got to create a following,” Pearl said. “What happened first, the chicken or the egg? When teams are winning, fans are coming out. Here at Auburn, the fans came out to help us win.”

The Auburn Tigers now enjoy a position as one of the best teams in the SEC with a large fan following, thanks to Bruce Pearl. They will look to continue this in the upcoming season as well.

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