It didn't take long after Anthony Davis scored nine points in 10 minutes on short notice in a blowout win over the Dominican Republic for Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo to realize the obvious.
Yeah, that guy will do.
Davis was officially added to the Olympic Roster today, according to a release from USA Basketball, replacing Blake Griffin, who is sidelined by a meniscus tear in his left knee. For Davis, it's a second chance (of a lifetime) after he missed a chance to make the team last week with a sprained ankle.
"We are sorry to have received confirmation of Blake's injury which has
forced his withdrawal from the USA Team for this summer," said
Colangelo. "Blake worked extremely hard in our training camp and
certainly would have been a valuable contributor. This is another
unfortunate injury, but we have to continue to move on and we're very
fortunate to have Anthony Davis available. Anthony offers our team
additional height and length, and this will be an incredible experience
for him."
Colangelo got that right.
Think about the year Davis is in line for. National Championship. John Wooden Award (and every other major player of the year award). No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. And now, potentially, Olympic gold medal.
Sources also say he is on the watchlists for the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize and the Oscars.
From a practical standpoint, getting to play and hang out with the best players in the NBA will do nothing but help Davis. UK coach John Calipari tweeted that the experience "will push him ahead in his career by years," and he's exactly right.
Said Davis: "It can really help me being around all these guys in this experience and playing in the Olympics fresh out of college.
"Whatever Coach K wants me to do I am going to do. I am going to
look forward to the challenges, and I'm looking forward to going
overseas and my first time out of the United States. I am looking
forward to that and getting to mingle with some of the guys and getting
to know them and their workout routines and how they get ready for each
game. They are superstars and they are here for a reason, so I'll just
try to emulate what they do."
