Golden State Warriors and Team USA basketball star Stephen Curry made it clear Tuesday that he and his teammates are not taking their upcoming game against South Sudan lightly.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Curry echoed a sentiment often pushed by his Warriors and Team USA head coach Steve Kerr, saying: “We have appropriate fear. We know we can’t just sleepwalk through any game and feel like you’re going to win.”
The Americans’ fear is well founded, as they were pushed to their limits by South Sudan in an exhibition game earlier this month, narrowly avoiding a massive upset with a razor-thin 101-100 victory.
If not for their previous meeting, it may have been easy for Team USA to look past South Sudan given that the African nation is making its Olympic debut in men’s basketball.
Also, while the United States is stacked with many of the NBA’s top stars, South Sudan doesn’t have a single current NBA player on its roster.
However, it does boast some players with NBA experience, including Wenyen Gabriel, JT Thor and Marial Shayok, none of whom wilted under the pressure of facing Team USA in an exhibition setting.
Although the Americans went undefeated in exhibition play, South Sudan gave them their toughest game, and that may have helped in terms of helping them getting locked in for the start of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
In their opening group game on Sunday, Team USA turned in a spectacular performance, beating a talented Serbia team led by Denver Nuggets superstar center and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić by a 110-84 score.
South Sudan also seemed to benefit from the confidence gained from taking Team USA the distance, as the Bright Stars were victorious in their first Olympic game, downing Puerto Rico 90-79.
It further proved that South Sudan is for real, which is a fact Curry, Kerr and the rest of Team USA were already well aware of.
Kerr leaned heavily on his veteran superstars and future Hall of Famers in the win over Serbia, as Kevin Durant led the team with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting off the bench, while LeBron James racked up 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Curry was also a major contributor, as he was one of six Americans to finish with double figures in scoring, recording 11 points, three assists and three rebounds.
Team USA, which is in search of a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball, will look to secure its spot in the quarterfinals when it takes on South Sudan at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday.