Team USA and its plethora of NBA talents will continue their pursuit of gold on Friday.
Steve Kerr’s team will square off vs. Germany in the FIBA Basketball World Cup semifinals, and it’ll bring together some familiar faces.
Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves will square off against former teammate Dennis Schroder, who’s obviously quite familiar with the entire USA roster.
Schroder had nothing but praise for the young shooting guard, talking about how special last season was and how close they grew to be during their days together in Los Angeles.
Likewise, the Arkansas native talked about how much respect he has for Schroder as a player, a person, and a father ahead of their matchup (via Nicole Ganglani).
Austin on his relationship with Dennis Schroder:
“He’s a great teammate, player and a father and is someone I have a lot of respect for.” https://t.co/o2w6Jfuy0N pic.twitter.com/bcHXXK2KNl
— Nicole Ganglani (@nicoleganglani) September 7, 2023
Schroder was one of Rob Pelinka’s offseason casualties, as he couldn’t strike a new deal with the Purple and Gold and took his talents up north to play for the Toronto Raptors instead.
He’s been one of the best players in the tournament and the undisputed leader for the German side, and even though he’s coming off his worst performance of the World Cup, he’s still going to be a handful for Kerr’s team.
As for Reaves, he’s been Team USA’s second-best player behind Anthony Edwards, giving them a massive offensive boost off the bench and making winning plays on both ends of the floor.
This will be a very interesting and physical matchup, and while Team USA is heavily favored by most oddsmakers, you never know what can happen in a tournament like this.
