New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson was giddy at his postgame press conference after securing a dominant 130-108 road win against the Brooklyn Nets in his first competitive outing since May 2021.
Williamson missed all of this past season with recurring foot injuries, but used the offseason to get into the best shape of his professional career, and he picked up right where he left off.
Before his injury, Williamson averaged 27 points per game at 61 per cent shooting in his second season after being drafted first overall back in 2019, and he showed no signs of rust, dropping 25 points on 11-of-22 shooting with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Speaking to the media immediately after the win, Williamson could not keep the smile off his face when talking about how excited he is to be back on the court with this Pelicans group.
"The Nets are a great team, a great organisation, but today we just wanted to show how special this group is," he said during his on-court interview.
"We got the win, most importantly that's what we want to do, but if you see the bonds we have on the court, and on the bench, we really have a special group and I'm excited to show the world what we can do."
Later in his sit-down press conference, he reflected on his feelings about returning after such a long layoff, and what it is like to play with this group, since he has not played since the Pelicans' acquisition of C.J. McCollum.
"Simply playing the game I love, which I didn't get to play for a long time, was a breath of fresh air," he said.
"There were times where there was a loose ball, and it ended up in C.J. or [Brandon Ingram's] hands, and I didn't even crash [for rebounds], I'm like 'oh that's good'. Man, it's special. If you know basketball, to get a chance to play with two players like that, it's special.
"All three of us are unselfish, we all have the same goal, and that's to win. When you want to win, you put aside the personal goals and everything else. Whatever I've got to do, whatever they've got to do to win, that's what we're all going to do.
"It's one thing when you're excited for yourself, but when you see people you work hard with, and go to battle with, and they're genuinely excited for you and wishing you the best – you can't ask for much more than that."
Despite top-scoring in the game with 28 points (10-of-17 shooting), Ingram made it clear who sits atop the Pelicans' pecking order, calling Williamson "one of the best players in the league".
Pelicans head coach Willie Green also enjoyed the show, saying: "It's like he didn't miss a beat – you just throw the ball to him and watch what he does. He's fun to watch."
Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms
United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels of intensity from his team as their Olympics campaign approaches.
Kerr was unhappy with the lacklustre displays from his side in their warm-ups against Germany and South Sudan.
Germany led 71-68 at the end of the third quarter before LeBron James conjured up 11 points in the final four minutes to give the USA a 92-88 win, while South Sudan were 20 seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest shocks in basketball history, before eventually falling to a 101-100 loss.
The USA face a dangerous Serbia side featuring reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Sunday, and Kerr is adamant that improvements are required if they are to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
He said: "It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.
“We have another level. I think we have another two levels that we can get to, but it's a collaboration, always.
"We can show them, 'Let's do this, let's do that. Let's learn personnel.'
"We got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters, all that stuff. So that's where we can help them. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy play after play, after play. This is different."
Kerr is a four-time NBA champion as a coach, and was part of the triumphant Olympics team in Tokyo in 2021, but the Golden State Warriors boss knows the experience of the Games will only be enhanced if the USA were to come out on top again.
"This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal," he said.
After facing Serbia, the USA will once again go up against South Sudan, this time in a competitive format, before ending the group stage with a match against Puerto Rico.
Durant warns Team USA 'everybody is a contender' in Olympic basketball tournament
Kevin Durant has warned Team USA they will not have an easy ride through the basketball tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, declaring: "Everybody is a contender".
The United States will go in search of a fifth straight men's basketball gold in the French capital, where they open their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday.
After that meeting with Nikola Jokic and company, the star-studded USA team featuring Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and a host of other NBA stars take on South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
With Steve Kerr having so much talent at his disposal, the roster has been compared to that of the 1992 'Dream Team', who took gold in Barcelona behind the efforts of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and other great names.
However, at a press conference ahead of Team USA's 2024 opener, Curry reminded reporters that the class of 1992 only faced nine other active NBA players.
Durant is expecting a much tougher assignment this year, responding to Curry by saying: "Everybody is a contender. Everyone is here for a reason.
"We're playing against 65 or 64 NBA players in Paris. So you know they're the best in the world."
Asked to identify the main players to watch from other nations, the Phoenix Suns forward said: "Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or Jokic."
While Durant adopted a cautious tone, Golden State Warriors star Curry was more bullish regarding the USA's gold medal hopes.
Quizzed on who he was most excited about facing, Curry simply said: "Whoever's in the gold medal game."
Knicks, head coach Thibodeau agree to three-year contract extension
The New York Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau have agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season.
New York went 50-32 last season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the semi-finals of the play-offs.
The Knicks were also ousted in the East semis in 2022-23 and reached the play-offs during Thibodeau’s first season in 2021-22, when he won his second NBA Coach of the Year award.
Prior to 2021-22, New York’s previous post-season appearance came in 2013.
The Knicks have gone 175-143 over the last four seasons under Thibodeau, who earned his first NBA Coach of the Year award in 2011 as a rookie head coach with the Chicago Bulls.
The 66-year-old Thibodeau owns a 527-389 record in 12 seasons as a head coach with Chicago, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York.
His teams have gone 38-47 in the post-season, and Thibodeau’s only appearance in the conference finals came in his rookie head coach season.
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