Jrue Holiday would be honored to represent Team USA in another Olympics
”It’s always an honor to represent your country,”
Jrue Holiday is expected to play for Team USA in the upcoming Paris Olympics, according to a report from The Athletic earlier this week. The report also mentioned that Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum is expected to be a part of the team’s core.
Holiday was asked about the report at the Celtics’ morning shootaround Friday. He spoke about how much competing in the Olympics again would mean to him after helping Team USA win the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games. His wife, Lauren Cheney Holiday, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s soccer.
”It’s always an honor to represent your country,” Holiday said. “Obviously I do it for my country, and I do it for my family. I think everybody here knows my wife. She’s the rock star in our household. I think to be able to represent my country and my family is something I’ve always been proud of.”
Holiday, a three-time NBA All-Defensive first team selection, started five of the six games for Team USA in Tokyo. He averaged 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 48.3 percent from the field.
Mazzulla slayed giants
Joe Mazzulla scored a then-career high 17 points in West Virginia’s Elite Eight matchup with Kentucky in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The Celtics coach’s Mountaineers beat the Wildcats to advance to the program’s first Final Four since 1959, but lost to eventual champion Duke in the semifinal round.
DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall, who went on to make a combined nine NBA All-Star appearances, both played for Kentucky in that game. Cousins expressed his frustration with how the game went in a video clip previewing an upcoming episode of the “Point Game” podcast.
”Y’all know Joe Mazzulla was guarding me in the back of that 1-3-1 (zone),” Cousins told Wall. “And y’all (expletive) wanted to keep shooting threes. I was like give me the ball. I was supposed to have 45 that game, brother. I had Joe Mazzulla guarding me in the post.”
Cousins, who was 9 inches taller and 60 pounds heavier than Mazzulla at the time, finished with 15 points and shot 6 for 11 from the field. Kentucky went an ice-cold 4 for 32 from 3-point range.
”I thought we did a good job taking away the threes from them,” Mazzulla said. “It was a complex defense that was kind of tough to figure out. We got kind of lucky, I don’t think we hit any 2-pointers in that game. We hit eight threes in the first half which allowed us to get out to a significant (lead). It was one of those games where they couldn’t get much from the outside, but we did and got lucky.“
”Obviously they were a dominant team with dominant players. It really came down to execution and shot-making. We got lucky in that first half. In the second half they were obviously way more talented but I thought we executed the game plan pretty well.”
White’s good fortune
Derrick White hosted “Strikes for Special Olympics Massachusetts” at Kings Dining and Entertainment in Back Bay Wednesday. White said the event, which raised funds for Special Olympics Massachusetts’ year round initiatives, was inspired by his aunt, a longtime Special Olympics participant.
”Throughout my years in the league, I have been fortunate enough to work with multiple Special Olympics teams and individual athletes at different events and my annual summer camp, and I continue to be amazed at each competitor,” White said.
The event has raised nearly $100,000, according to the Celtics. Special Olympics Massachusetts offers free sports training and competitions for athletes with intellectual disabilities across the state year round.
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