Filed under: Basketball
Durant averaged 22 points per game for the entire series, scoring 28 points in the championship. He was an easy pick for the MVP award, and has made himself a front runner to be added to the Olympic team, which should feature Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and all the usual suspects. Most of the players from this team will probably not be invited to play with the Olympic Team in 2012. Durant should be the exception.
Duke University's Mike Krzyzewski has something to be proud of. He was the first coach to win gold at both the Olympics and the World Championships in basketball. He has helped to restore USA Basketball to prior glory as well. The 62-year old coach has achieved a great deal in his career, and this might be near the top of his list.
I watched much of the title game and saw something exciting and calming about the team our nation put on the floor this year. While the athletes aren't the marquee names of the NBA, they played very well together. Having Coach K on the sidelines gave me the feeling that this team was somehow different. I didn't see a bunch of guys thrown together with the expectation that US basketball superiority was going to help them to dominate the rest of the world. Instead, I saw men who respected their opponents and each other. They realized that while their athletic gifts are second to none, they woud have to humbly approach the Herculean task in front of them. I was proud to see this team on the floor, for they were truly a team in every sense of the word. It was awesome.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.