Team USA FIBA loss proof Devin Booker should not have played

Team USA has been knocked out of medal contention in the FIBA tournament, proof that following early criticism, Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker did the right thing by not participating.

En masse, Americans generally do not care about the FIBA World Championships or the World Cup of basketball. We get up for the Olympics because, hey: they’re the Olympics. But the rest of that stuff – not so much.

So while we still want the United State to win whenever they play, especially when considering that their rosters are always chock full of NBA players, when they lose, the reaction is going to be considerably more ho hum than if a fan’s favorite NBA team lost in the NBA Finals.

It sucks, but ultimately it doesn’t matter, and we’re just glad that everyone is coming back to their respective NBA teams healthy.

With the United States’ loss to France, Team USA’s hopes at a gold medal for the third consecutive FIBA tournament are dashed, and their streak of 58 consecutive wins dating back to the bronze medal game in 2006 (the last time they failed to win gold) has been snapped.

And where was Devin Booker?

At home, probably casually catching highlights and occasionally flipping through to see a few minutes live here and there, and in the gym – exactly what he should have been doing.

For Devin Booker, as for most (if not all NBA athletes), an NBA Championship is a bigger deal than a FIBA World Championship medal. The United States is supposed  to always win, but even if they do, there is not a player in the league now who wouldn’t regard the Larry O’Brian trophy as the far more coveted award in their careers.

Booker, undoubtedly feels the same.

Unfortunately for him, his individual statistics in the NBA, that which have been incredible and even historic  through only four years of his career, have still not garnered respect from fans league-wide, and a loss at FIBA would not have helped him in any regard.

Let’s say that Booker accepted the invitation to play (realizing that many more star players turned down the opportunity to participate than him), and replaced either Joe Harris, Marcus Smart, or Derrick White on the roster (wow…Joe Harris, Marcus Smart, and Derrick White were the best they could get?).

Yes, Booker immediately brings skill and ability, but do non-Suns fans suddenly give he and the roster credibility just because he is there?

Let’s say too that Team USA is still knocked out of the tournament. People like Bill Simmons aren’t harping on Kemba Walker for the loss, but would they place blame on Book, especially if he attempted to play a little too much of an iso game in an attempt to take over and control the outcome, or if he missed a clutch shot or turned the ball over?

Yet, even if they lost and he did not play a particularly specific role in the loss, Devin Booker’s name is still forever etched in stone as having been on the roster of an American team that lost an international competition – something that never used to happen before; ever.

While that wouldn’t necessarily hurt him in the long run as an NBA player, the short-term repercussion would be felt as his individual statistics for the Phoenix Suns would continue to be diminished fandom-wide, plus fans and historians of the sport know all too well the stars who are on the international teams who fail to bring home the expected gold.

Consider the 2004 Olympic team that lost three games and only won the gold. Odds are that if you are reading this article you are not only all too aware of that tournament (and the subsequent 2006 FIBA tournament) and know all too well the names of the stars on those rosters who failed to achieve the desired and expected outcome.

For Booker, would it have been worth the personal risk of damaging his still developing reputation? Would it have made much sense for him to dedicate this summer to playing at a high level right before the most pivotal season of his career, only to walk away with a bronze or worse – Team USA is getting nothing  but a “thank you” and “have a safe flight”?

Some have speculated that Booker would have been the best player on the roster had he joined.

This is certainly high praise – praise that Phoenix Suns fans know is well deserved.

There is no guarantee though that his placement on the roster would have been enough for the team to overcome the short time that they had to play together and become a congealed unit capable of overtaking teams like France who have a much stronger bond.

Had Booker been there and they won, of course it would have been a nice story, but unless he was necessitated to pull off some inhuman games that somehow looked Michael Jordan-esque, bringing home the gold almost single-handedly, would just a gold medal have helped him and the Phoenix Suns as they enter 2019-20?

Likely not, and thus just another reason that he was right, and just fine, by sitting this tournament out.

Here is to hoping, certainly, that he will be on the Olympic team in 2020 after a stellar regular season for the Phoenix Suns.

In the United States, FIBA tournaments are not the end-all be-all for fans or our beloved athletes, and in the case of Devin Booker, it was not worth his time.