Jrue Holiday has gone from an action-packed season where he won his second NBA Championship to representing Team USA in a matter of weeks, playing on one of the best-assembled modern national teams in recent memory. Holiday opened up on his heavy schedule to Fadeaway World, explaining how he keeps himself engaged and healthy enough to go through such a heavy workload.
“You rest when you can. You take care of your body when you’re not on the court. There’s a lot of things you gotta do like icing, stretching, massaging, just taking care of your body and doing your best to get away from basketball, mentally escaping. Me, I do a lot of things with my family, we have fun. But at a time like this, we will try to enjoy Abu Dhabi, the culture… Yeah, I’ll be back in October.”
Jrue Holiday on winning a title and immediately playing the Olympics: "You rest when you can. You take care of your body when you're not on the court… doing your best to get away from basketball, mentally escaping. Me, I do a lot of things with my family, we have fun." pic.twitter.com/MZTDWTPdmI
— Fadeaway World (@FadeawayWorld) July 13, 2024
Holiday won his first NBA Championship in the summer of 2021 on the Milwaukee Bucks, immediately flying out to Tokyo to play for Team USA at the Olympics alongside teammate Khris Middleton. He’s doing the same after winning the second title of his career, this time with Jayson Tatum and Derrick White alongside him.
Holiday averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists last season, with his defensive contributions proving invaluable as the Celtics finally won their 18th Larry O’Brien trophy. He’s started for Team USA in their only game so far in the Olympic cycle, serving as the best perimeter defender on the team by a good margin.
It’s hard to bench Holiday and expect anyone else to replicate his defensive intensity. Given Holiday’s offense is arguably the weakest amongst the star names on Team USA, he will be relied on heavily to play the best defense of his life to bring home a Gold medal.
Trouble Among The Celtics After The Olympics?
The Celtics are still considered the best team in the NBA heading into next season despite the aggressive moves made by teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks. But their success could unravel after the repeated disrespect to Jaylen Brown and his abilities, as Brown was the only core member of the Celtics to be left off Team USA.
Derrick White wasn’t initially selected for Team USA but replaced Kawhi Leonard over Brown, prompting Brown to go off on social media about a conspiracy against him because he is not a Nike athlete. Managing Director of USA Basketball Grant Hill felt the need to publicly clarify why Brown wasn’t selected because of the uproar around his absence.
People think this situation has also caused friction between Brown and Jayson Tatum, as their competitive relationship might have taken a turn for the worse after Brown won both ECF and Finals MVP over Tatum while Tatum represents Team USA over Brown. Tatum had a cold response about Brown being snubbed on Team USA as well.
“I mean there’s so many guys that could, you know, take that last spot or whatever. So, yeah it is.”
The Brown and Tatum pair have beaten allegations of not getting along repeatedly over the years, so this could be another chance for them to show how motivated they are to win. But now that the title has been won, it could go south for the Celtics as both stars try to emphasize who’s the leader of this team going forward.
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