The Team USA men’s Olympic basketball team avoided what could have been a terrifying ailment to a major player on Wednesday.
All-Star Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis, who has vacillated between a starting and reserve role in Team USA’s two games thus far, revealed that he survived an on-court tumble with Team South Sudan center/power forward Wenyen Gabriel, despite what looked like a tweaked ankle.
According to Ben Golliver of The Washington Post, the 6-foot-10 big man indicated that his ankle was “100 percent” heading into the club’s third and final group play game, slated for Saturday morning against Team Puerto Rico at 8:15 a.m. PT/11:15 a.m. ET.
“Wenyen being Wenyen. He’s my guy,” Davis said regarding Gabriel, who played with Davis in Los Angeles during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. “I was falling and he came down too and just kind of stepped on my foot.”
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Across Team USA’s two games thus far, Davis is logging averages of 7.5 points, 7.5 boards, two dimes, and a steal. The nine-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA honoree, and five-time All-Defensive Teamer is looking to further burnish his Hall of Fame resume with what would be his second Olympic gold medal. Davis claimed his first in 2012. From that 2012 team, only three players are on the 2024 iteration: Davis, his fellow All-NBA Laker LeBron James, and All-NBA Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant.
Davis was also the second-best player on the Lakers’ 2020 title team. The 31-year-old’s individual accolades combined with his relative postseason success should already be enough to cement his legacy in Springfield.
The Kentucky product drew his first start on Wednesday, helping lead Team USA to a 103-86 victory over Gabriel and South Sudan. The club is now 7-0, between its unblemished five exhibition games and its two group play contests, and is heavily favored to defeat Team Puerto Rico on Saturday.
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Losing Davis would prove costly for Team USA, which would especially miss his post presence defensively. Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo led the club in scoring on Wednesday while backing up Davis.
Philadelphia 76ers MVP center Joel Embiid didn’t play a single second, a far cry from his previous role as starting center. Head coach Steve Kerr has indicated that Embiid was benched for matchup reasons, and is going to start on Saturday. Had Davis missed time, Adebayo would have been leaned upon even more to shore up the program’s frontcourt defense.