The USA Basketball Mini Camp was underway in Las Vegas and the stars were out on full display. Some of the players withdrawn from the minicamp but it still was an amazing turnout. One of the players that stood out the most in the USA Basketball Mini-Camp was Oklahoma City SF Paul George. Paul George had his knee scoped earlier in the summer and was on the court for the first time in full contact. Paul didn’t look like he missed a beat and actually looked a lot more comfortable with his jump shot. Paul George was giving his all out there and loved the fact of competing against the worlds greatest athletes like Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook to name a few. The fact that he was able to show his full arsenal at the camp with his shot-making ability, defense, and also showed no signs of fatigue or pain in that knee is huge. Russell Westbrook was at the camp as well and looked extremely fit and bigger on the court. Westbrook looked to be in rare form on the 1st day USA Basketball and was able to get involved with different drills. Russell was hitting jumpers and finding teammates in the right spot to get things going for the players he was teamed up with. Both Russell Westbrook and Paul George looked happy and were having fun while interacting with the other players. It was a beautiful sight to see both Westbrook/George cracking jokes especially after him signing with OKC for 4 years earlier in the month. Both Thunder players looked good and were displaying their chemistry for all of the media to see.
One of the surprises at USA Basketball was Carmelo Anthony who showed up and greeted his old teammates, Russell Westbrook and Paul George. Melo was laughing with his teammates as they were hugging and joking around. Melo expressed that OKC was rushed and he repeated that they all felt that they could have won the title. There was nothing awkward about Melo being there as he was greeted by many players and coaches. USA Basketball brought everyone together and that’s all that matters because even KD & Russ were having fun. The media paints this picture of Russ and KD never getting back on good terms but what everyone found out is that time heals all. If there was a beef or problem that is long gone as both were joking and looked back to being Thunder Buddies. Kevin Durant was on the record for saying that OKC is home and the way he was interacting with Russ and PG it felt that way. Kevin Durant was in MVP of the Finals form as he didn’t miss anything whether it was in the 1 on 1 games that he won or the actual drills KD was unstoppable. Kevin Durant beat Paul George, Khris Middleton, Devin Booker, Victor Oladipo, and Myles Turner in the 1 on 1 games. It was all fun and games during the drills but KD turned into EasyMoneySniper extremely fast and didn’t take it easy on them. Kevin Durant was looking like a 7″0 shooting guard out there against the other competition.
Another player that looked really good out there was James Harden who’s been motivated to get back to the Western Conference Finals to revenge that Game 7 loss to the Warriors. James Harden was making shots and was looking like a true floor general during the team drills. James Harden was thriving off of all the tough play and was loving playing with Westbrook and Durant again.
DeMar DeRozan was able to play with his Head Coach Gregg Popovich watching for the first time. Both Coach Pop and DeMar looked happy and that’s all that matters. Now DeRozan has a chance to flourish under a coach that has stability and also a coach that will demand greatness out of him and his skillset. DeMar was all smiles at USA Basketball and was engaged in some serious competition against Devin Booker who also looked really good out there with the rest of the players. Both Booker and DeRozan exchanged in several shooting battles and both were nothing but net.
Overall this final roster will be special when everyone is healthy and ready to go. Players like Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Mike Conley, and Isaiah Thomas watched the minicamp on the sidelines but still were active in huddles. Those type of players show true leadership and they will continue to help this country/team moving forward.
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