Anthony Davis talks about missing Rio Olympics
By Hunter Cooke
For this young budding star, there is no higher victory than the Olympics.
Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans will not be attending the Olympics due to a torn labrum and knee injury that ended his 2015-2016 campaign in March. He seemed pretty bummed about it on Saturday, according to USA Today Sports. When asked what winning gold means to him, he said:
"“For me, it’s No. 1. You don’t really get an opportunity to win a gold medal every year, and I’m fortunate to have two, one for the World Cup and one for the Olympics.Winning — just the feeling of them playing your national anthem and them putting a gold medal around your neck — is huge.”"
That’s pretty high praise from a young star.
The USA Olympic Basketball team will not have big names like Lebron James and Steph Curry, but that ultimately won’t make a difference. USA basketball traditionally dominates international competition, and they still have big names like Kyrie Irving, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Paul George and Demarcus Cousins on the roster for Rio 2016.
It’s completely understandable to have elected not to join the team for this year’s Olympics. The dangers of the Zika supervirus have caused many athletes to withdraw from Rio already, while an economic recession in Brazil has led to protests in Rio de Janeiro, some of which have turned violent. Regardless, members of the NBA desperate for that gold medal will join up with the national team to take home the championship. Let’s hope everything goes smoothly in Rio.
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