(credit: Ronald Martinez)
While the Americans are preparing to send a frightening contingent to the side of Tokyo to bring back Olympic gold, the presence of Kevin Love has crystallized many questions and thorny debates, especially after the words of Jalen Rose. Rest assured: the controversy is finally over.
After the disappointment of the World Cup, a side competition for the Americans, Team USA intends to be respected again on the most beautiful stage: the Olympic Games. To achieve this, the roster has been concocted with small onions, and the simple list already makes all the opponents sweat – among which will be the French:
Among this armada of stars, the presence of Kevin Love is the one that has most questioned. Nearly 33 years old, the Cavs’ interior has been a shadow of itself in recent seasons, alternating between injuries and level of AC play. Its inclusion had therefore caused Jalen Rose, who had accused the federation of having selected him only because he is white, thus avoiding a 100% black team.
The controversy has long swelled, escalated, divided, until Team USA boss Jerry Colangelo raised the issue to the press:
The best reason to explain the presence of Kevin Love as an additional big man is his international experience (Love is one of the 3 players in the roster who have already played the Olympics with Durant and Green, editor’s note). Yes, it’s true that he hasn’t played a lot in recent years, but with his qualities and the work he has done on his physical condition, he’s a versatile guy who can take rebounds and plant shots. . Who knows how many minutes each player will play? You can’t make all 12 play evenly. We had to fill the roster with role players.
A skillful Colangelo way of explaining between the lines that Kevin Love will likely be Gregg Popovich’s least used player at the Olympics in a few weeks. If Pop calls on him, on the other hand, the experienced big man will undoubtedly be ready to fulfill his role.
Note also that Jalen Rose, after several days of silence, published a 42-minute video (!) In which he outlines an apology … without really apologizing directly to Love. This should in any case be enough to close this case for good.
With the Kevin Love controversy over, Team USA and the fans can now fully concentrate on the pitch, and the pitch only. And it’s much better that way.
