Pinch-me moments are few and far between for Zach LaVine these days.
Then came participating in the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo on Friday.
“Really powerful just being around all the athletes from all the other countries and all the different sports,” LaVine said on Saturday via a zoom call. “It was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was a giant event with a lot of history and I just tried to soak it all in. A lot of fun. Long day, though, I can tell you that.”
The Bulls guard knows “long days.”
He’s had his share of them this past season, first missing 11 games back in April when he tested positive for the coronavirus and was put into the NBA’s health and safety protocol, and then going back into the protocol for Team USA last week, with a chance of missing out on a push for a gold medal.
“Well I was a little shocked,” LaVine said of his latest experience. “Obviously I didn’t think I could get [the virus]. Obviously I didn’t. I’m going to have to be careful with everybody including the team and everybody coming over here, so it made sense, and I pretty much had to do my time, jump through a couple hoops to get here.”
Those hoops included quarantine, a series of negative tests while the rest of his teammates flew to Tokyo, and then finally being cleared and jumping on a flight a few days later.
As the Sun-Times reported, LaVine was put into the protocol this time because of contact tracing.
“I didn’t want to put anyone in harm, I didn’t want to be put in harm, so we just had to make sure everything was OK before I got here,” LaVine said.
What mattered for him now, however, was the task at hand.
LaVine and Team USA open up pool play on Sunday, taking on France. By the way, a team that beat the United States back in the 2019 FIBA World Cup quarterfinals.
“We’ve been preparing for France for two years,” Team USA coach Gregg Popovich said earlier in the week.
Popovich would know a little something about that loss, since he was also coaching Team USA back then.
“I think about it every day,” the coach remarked.
Popovich has his players thinking about it too.
“We know how good they are, but we also know how good we are too,” LaVine said of the matchup with France. “We went over the film and we understand what they do, but I think we’re more focused on what we do because if we do what we do good I don’t think there’s any team out here that’s going to come close to us, so as long as we go out there and execute, be ourselves, be Team USA, I think we’ll be alright.”
As far as what role LaVine plans to play in all of this? That hasn’t changed. He moved into the starting role when Bradley Beal had to leave the team because of the health and safety protocol, and has kept the mindset of whatever is asked of him – starter or not.
“Whatever I’ve got to get done, do it,” LaVine said. “We’re all not playing our regular starter minutes. I may come off the bench some games, I might start some games. But I’m here to bring energy. Obviously when I need to score, put the ball in the hoop I can do that, but try and bring a lot of energy and change the pace of the game. Pick up guys [defensively], be a menace out there.”
