Playing on Team USA has proven to be a catalyst for many players’ NBA success. The stories of Player X learning from other stars in a competitive setting and using it to lead Team Y are far too common to recant.
So instead, we’ll give you a new one.
The latest player poised to break out after the Olympics experience is DeAndre Jordan. That’s at least what his head coach Doc Rivers believes, even if DJ thinks the gold medal he won is more important than a ring.
Following from Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe:
“He sees himself now as a star,” Rivers said. “As good as he is, I don’t think he’s ever seen himself as one. He’s always been the third guy so he’s looked at himself as a role player in some ways. Now he knows how good he is and I think any time you’re around winning, it’s important, and I think DJ now knows what winning looks like.
“Of all our guys, I think he’s the most important guy this summer for us.”
[…]“Actually the international game is more physical at times; I knew he’d be dominant defensively and I knew he would fit that team,” Rivers said. “That team had a lot of guys that wanted to shoot, so you put the one guy that doesn’t really want to shoot with the four shooters. I think the change that [Mike Krzyzewski] made starting him was a big change.”
To be fair, DeAndre Jordan has been a great player for the Clippers for a very long time. Yes, he does not have a ton of skills, but the ones he possesses (e.g. pick and roll offense and shot blocking), he’s quite good at.
Perhaps playing on Team USA has refined some of his skills or helped him with the mental aspect of the game. It’s hard to see Jordan improving to the point of becoming a “star” next to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. However, that’s mostly semantics at that point, as LAC does not require a third star.
If he really does improve fresh off a gold medal, then the NBA will have to worry about one of the best centers in the league. Jordan’s improvements could be all the Clippers need to finally break through in the playoffs.
