Team USA’s Olympic campaign is going as planned. After advancing to the Quarter Finals, LeBron James and Co. are one step closer to the Gold medal in Paris. The team has put up dominating wins against their group-stage opponents and will face Brazil in the quarter finals on Tuesday. However, Draymond Green is still not entirely happy.
Green has an issue with the way things have unfolded for Team USA because of one very specific reason. On The Draymond Green Show, the Warriors veteran admitted that he wanted Team USA to play France in the competition because there are scores to settle.
The two teams were put in different groups in the tournament. Although both have qualified for the next round, France’s chances of getting past Canada in the next round are slim. Green said that because Canada will likely end up beating France, his wish to see the matchup would remain unfulfilled.
The four-time NBA Champion seemed dejected because Team USA won’t be able to beat the home team in Paris, “I really wanted to see Team USA beat France in Paris because it just would be amazing to see.”
The reason why Green holds such a grudge against the French team is because he believes that they have been acting like they are better than America in the sport of basketball. Therefore, proper order needs to be established and the French need to be humbled.
The Warriors veteran claimed, “I played in the last two Olympics and what you end up realizing is…I think that France had won the World Championship or something and they start acting as if they were kind of better than Team USA…and they kind of start acting as if they’re on the same level as us and that’s just not a realistic thing.”
Green recalled being beaten by France in the first game in 2021 and at the time, things like ‘they’re good players but they’re not a team’ were said about Team USA. Although USA ended up winning the gold medal after beating France in the final game, Green still believes that there’s a necessity of more dominant wins to exact revenge.
His ongoing rivalry with French center Rudy Gobert, which often takes an ugly turn, could be another reason why the four-time NBA Champion is hellbent about France losing out to Team USA. Maybe he could’ve found some closure if that happened on Gobert’s home soil.
Moreover, French fans have been mocking Joel Embiid throughout the tournament for choosing to play for USA instead of France in this year’s Olympics. Therefore, Team USA has further reasons to defeat France on their path to glory.
As for France’s chances of getting past Canada, Green believes that it will be a tough outing.
He mentioned that the Canadian side is going strong despite the struggles of Jamal Murray, which proves that they have a lot of depth on their roster. However, Green did say that they lack a big on their team and that’s something that the French side can take advantage of.
The quarter-final rounds are set to start on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see if France manages to beat Canada and clear the road for a outing with Team USA.