Rebecca Blackwell/AP
PARIS — The first practice for the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team after arriving in Paris was one of those workouts that those who were there, watching behind closed doors, will talk about for a long time.
Players were split up evenly. Go play, they were told. What happened next set the tone for the rest of the team’s time at the Paris Games.
“We warmed up and then it became competitive,” U.S. assistant coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And that’s when you realized, one, that this team really cares and that it felt the responsibility to play and compete at the highest level.