Kawhi Leonard shared that he will be ready for the start of training camp, and that he would have been healthy enough to play in last season's NBA Finals had the Los Angeles Clippers made it that far.
All eyes were on the Clippers' franchise player during Monday's media day, with Leonard recently being cleared for five-on-five play more than 14 months after tearing his ACL in the 2021 playoffs.
Oddsmakers have the Clippers as the second-favourites to win the Western Conference, trailing only the reigning champion Golden State Warriors. Their success is ultimately reliant on Leonard's health, with the two-time Finals MVP with the San Antonio Spurs (2014) and Toronto Raptors (2019) trying to become the first player to ever win the award with three different teams.
Speaking about how he feels physically after such a long rehabilitation period, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year highlighted all the time he has spent in the weight room and how it has him feeling stronger than ever.
"I feel stronger, for sure," he said. "It's been, what, 14, 15 months of no basketball – well, playing in an NBA season for me, no basketball.
"That whole 13-, 14-month process is just lifting weights and getting stronger. I definitely got a lot stronger.
"Right now I feel good in my workouts, weightlifting. I don't feel like I have a subconscious mind of not jumping off my leg, per se. I feel good. We'll just see how the season goes."
In what is a good sign for his chances of being at 100 per cent for the opening day of the season, Leonard shared that "if [the Clippers] would have made it to the Finals last year, you would have seen me playing".
Around Leonard, the Clippers have assembled arguably the deepest roster in the NBA, with running-mate Paul George being joined by a bevy of capable perimeter options, including former All-Star John Wall, starting-quality guards Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard, starter-level wings Norman Powell and Robert Covington, as well as rotation pieces Marcus Morris Sr, Nic Batum and Terance Mann.
George compared their wealth of talent to his experience with the United States national team, and said the key will be figuring out how to mesh successfully and find roles for everyone.
"I think really [we will use] that mindset of Team USA," George said. "You take the best guys, and of course everybody is good and they're all on teams, everybody is the star of their own teams.
"But when you put us all together, it's how do I make you better now and how do I shine with this environment.
"It should be a lot of fun with this team, and there should be a lot of good nights being a Clipper fan."
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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