Boston Celtics' Jrue Holiday is one of the many names targeted to be part of Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics, although the 33-year-old player has yet to decide.
Regardless, USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill remains hopeful that the two-time All-Star will agree and be part of the 12-man lineup, mainly for his defensive prowess, per sources in a report by ESPN.
Aside from his defensive capabilities, Jrue Holiday's potential impact on the team is another attribute that makes him a good fit. The one-time NBA champion was part of the 2021 gold medal-winning USA team and was the second-most impactful player after Kevin Durant.
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What is holding up Holiday?
Holiday was part of Damian Lillard's blockbuster trade that saw him initially sent from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Portland Trail Blazers, per NBA.com. After four days, he was dealt to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams III, and a couple of future first-round picks.
The 17th overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft may be still trying to acclimatize himself in Bean Town with his new team. But once everything settles down, he may address the call for him to join Team USA.
One person helping the former UCLA Bruin is former Bucks assistant coach Charles Lee. He, along with another top assistant coach, Sam Cassell, was hired by Boston recently, and his familiarity with Holiday will help get things up to speed, SI.com reported.
"Charles has always been the type to be very teacher-esque; if I have any questions or anything like that, I could always go to him. But he's always quizzing me on plays (and) he's quizzing me on schemes, what we want to do defensively, he'll literally just walk up to me and ask me a question about something, and I have to answer it. So, always just keeping my mind going, my mind engaged," Holiday told reporters.
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