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TEAM USA HAS "APPROPRIATE FEAR" IN FACING SOUTH SUDAN

PARIS -- Team USA has initiated the "appropriate fear" phrase.

This tradition traces back to Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich, who pioneered the mindset -- a respect for the underdog mantra he brought to the San Antonio Spurs and later as coach of Team USA.

And one that current coach Steve Kerr, one of Popovich's many pupils, has been imparting this week as the Americans prepare to see South Sudan on Wednesday in Olympic pool play. On the heels of an impressive win over Serbia, another U.S. victory would clinch a spot in next week's quarterfinals.

South Sudan is playing in its first Olympics and doesn't have any current NBA players on its roster. But the Bright Stars beat Puerto Rico in their Olympic opener last Sunday and pushed Team USA to the brink in a one-point loss in a friendly in London less than two weeks ago.

"We have appropriate fear," said Steph Curry, who has played for Kerr for a decade with the Golden State Warriors and is quite familiar with the concept. "We know we can't just sleepwalk through any game and feel like you're going to win."

The U.S. is a heavy favorite against the Bright Stars; ESPN BET has set the line at 29.5 points. But the Americans were favored by more than 40 points on July 20. It took a basket by LeBron James with eight seconds left and surviving multiple good looks the South Sudanese got just before the buzzer for the U.S. to secure a 101-100 victory.

"They came within one shot of beating us," Kerr said. "I'm really glad that we played them so we can feel their speed and their 3-point shooting ability and feel how good they are."

Unlike Serbia, a methodical bruising team that prefers to play slow and rough, South Sudan is loaded with players with NBA-level quickness.

Led by former NBA player and current Houston Rockets assistant coach Royal Ivey, South Sudan will have five 3-point shooting threats on the floor at all times and look to spread opponents out. It made 14 3-pointers against the Americans in London and made 10 more against Puerto Rico.

"The exhibition schedule was great because you got to figure out where we need to get better and also feel the force of teams that are coming trying to beat us," Curry said. "They're a very high-octane offense, spread the floor, shoot a lot of 3s and have athleticism. So you just got to be mindful of how to guard them. It's totally different than Serbia."

High on the scouting report will be former Philadelphia 76ers wing Marial Shayok, who lit up the U.S. for 24 points in the last meeting. He and former NBA forward Wenyan Gabriel combined to shoot 9-of-15 on 3-pointers.

Former G League Player of the Year Carlik Jones had a triple-double in the game in London, breaking down the American perimeter defense with aggressive drives that opened up kick outs to 3-point shooters. Jones, who recently signed a with Serbian power FK Partizan, had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Puerto Rico.

"We'll be much better prepared [Wednesday]," Kerr said. "But doesn't guarantee anything."

Also Tuesday, Team USA center Joel Embiid spoke to the media for the first time since arriving in France. Embiid was booed by the French crowd in Lille on Sunday, not unexpected after he passed on offers to play for France in these Olympics.

"[Reaction is] nothing," Embiid said. "Like I've said, I'm an American. I play for Team USA."

Embiid grew up in Cameroon and moved to the U.S when he was 16. He was granted French citizenship in 2022 and American citizenship in 2023.

- Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer

LEBRON JAMES LAYUP HELPS U.S. DODGE UPSET FROM SOUTH SUDAN

LONDON -- There probably will be a movie made about the South Sudan basketball team someday. And the players representing the war-torn young nation added a powerful and dramatic scene Saturday night in a moment the raucous crowd at O2 Arena won't soon forget.

LeBron James made a driving layup with eight seconds left to prevent what would've been an historic upset and Team USA escaped with a 101-100 victory.

Former Charlotte Hornets forward JT Thor had made a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining and South Sudan had three attempts in the final seconds but couldn't convert the miracle.

The club is called the Bright Stars -- the first team to represent the country in the Olympics when it arrives in Paris next week -- and it gave Team USA a thrilling and serious test.

"I did not do a great job preparing our team, I think we did not focus enough on what they're capable of and that's on me," Team USA coach Steve Kerr said.

"They played a wonderful game and the ending was good for us just to feel that. To feel what it's going to be like in Paris and Lille ... a good reminder that when we play against teams, it's the biggest game of their lives and we have to expect everyone to play like that."

South Sudan got up by as many as 16 points and threatened to pull off one of the biggest upsets ever seen in international basketball before Team USA pulled it out.

James might be interested in buying the movie rights to the South Sudan story, but he was determined not be portrayed on the losing team. James was vicious in denying the upset attempt, aggressively taking over the game when the U.S. was in serious trouble.

He scored 25 points and made a string of tremendous plays in a 23-5 run from late in the third quarter to early in the fourth. A power dunk that led to a three-point play and a 3-pointer were crucial.

"Don't take nothing away from South Sudan," James said. "They played extremely good basketball and that's why the game is won in between the lines and not all on paper."

James appeared antsy when Kerr elected not to start him or the rest of the game's starters to begin the third quarter. Kerr has done that before during these Olympic run-up games, but he also wanted to change the tone after Team USA's defense was shaky in allowing dribble penetration that led to 57% shooting and a wave of 3-pointers by the Bright Stars in the first half.

"I think the whole team was embarrassed at halftime to be totally outplayed and down 14," Kerr said. "And I don't think [James] was real thrilled about me not starting him in the third quarter. But I thought that next group that we put out there really did a good job defensively. And I looked down a couple of times and I can see LeBron chomping at the bit to be out on the floor as soon as he got out there and he went to work, so he was brilliant."

Steph Curry made two clutch 3-pointers, helping end a stretch of Team USA missing 14 of 15 3-pointers that contributed to the deficit, in the run. And he said he and his teammates took away some lessons as they improved to 4-0 in exhibition games this summer.

"We can be beat if we don't play our brand of basketball. And our brand of basketball is playing defense," said Curry, who had 12 points. "We didn't make them uncomfortable at all the first half and they took advantage of it. But we also learned we have that gear if we can find it, no matter who's out there on the court, we can overwhelm teams for 40 minutes and it's a great reminder of both."

Anthony Davis, who had yet another strong game for the American team in what has been a tour de force over the past three weeks, made a series of plays to finish off a 15-point, 10-rebound performance and seal the game.

South Sudan showed off its tremendous collective athleticism and no fear against an American team that many South Sudanese players consider their peers. Most of the players are the descendants of refugees and grew up in North America or Australia.

They aren't as much Cinderellas as they are castoffs, some of whom might be getting calls from NBA teams in the coming days.

Point guard Carlik Jones was the 2022-23 G League Player of the Year while on a contract with the Chicago Bulls but was released last year as a luxury tax-saving move despite being one of the best guards in the World Cup in Manila. He played last season for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in China.

All he did was put up a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, but he missed a jumper with four seconds left, the rebound setting off a chaotic scrap for the ball around the rim, where referees elected to call no contact and the U.S. escaped.

Marial Shayok, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who grew up in Ottawa, Canada, was a 2019 second-round pick by the Philadelphia 76ers out of Iowa State and played just four career games before being released. He has played several years in Turkey and averaged 19 points last season with Shandong in China.

He was the best player on the floor at times in the game, scoring 24 points and drilling 6 of 12 3-pointers.

Thor, a 6-10 power forward who starred at Auburn, played 165 games with the Hornets over the past three years after being a 2021 second-round pick. The Hornets declined his option last month after he averaged 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 63 games last season.

Thor had 14 points off the bench.

Wenyan Gabriel had all kinds of former teammates on Team USA. He played at Kentucky with Bam Adebayo, with Davis and James with the Los Angeles Lakers and briefly with Kevin Durant with the Brooklyn Nets. Gabriel has played 150 games with seven NBA teams but just five last season while on a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.

He had 11 points and put constant pressure on the American interior defense.

Khaman Maluach, a 7-2 athlete with huge upside, is the highest-profile player in the group. The 18-year-old will play next year at Duke. Superagent Rich Paul was in London to see not just clients James and Davis but also Maluach.

He had seven points and three rebounds.

"We want to take the momentum, the mindset, the tenaciousness that we had [to the Olympics]," said South Sudan coach Royal Ivey, who is an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets. "We didn't flinch."

Joel Embiid, who was born and raised in the West African nation of Cameroon before moving to the U.S. at age 16, played his best game for Team USA, with 14 points and seven rebounds.

In 2021, Team USA lost to Nigeria, the African representative at the Tokyo Olympics, in an exhibition game in Las Vegas. It has lost nine times to seven different nations, three of them in exhibition games, since 2019.

Team USA avoided another loss, one that would have carried a level of embarrassment against a national program that has been in existence for only a handful of years after Luol Deng, the former NBA All-Star from South Sudan, assembled funding and the players with tireless work.

"There is a tendency at times to let down; I think the fact that we played well against Serbia the other night, this was kind of a natural letdown game that you fear," Kerr said. "What we've learned with USA basketball is that the gap has closed ... so it's not a shock to see a team from South Sudan play really well and knock down 3s. The game has gotten better across the globe, but we still feel like we always control the outcome with our performance and as good as every other team is now, we still feel like it's up to us to determine the outcome based on our defense and our effort."

- Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer

USA MAN'S BASKETBALL OLYMPIC TEAM ARRIVES FOR CAMP I LAS VEGAS

 LAS VEGAS (AP) — There’s something that Kobe Bryant once said that has stuck with U.S. men’s Olympic basketball coach Steve Kerr and seems especially important now.

It was about how other nations have made big strides in basketball, how the gap between the rest of the world and the U.S. is closing and how that’s been a great thing for the NBA. And Bryant’s response, paraphrased, was basically, “so what?”

His point: If everyone else is getting better, then the U.S. better find ways to do the same.

“Maybe we’ll show that one to the guys,” Kerr said. “I love that. And it has to be our attitude this summer.”

After months of planning, it’s time for the U.S. Olympic team — one that will go to the Paris Games later this month seeking a fifth consecutive gold medal — to take the floor. The first practice for the squad is Saturday, the start of a four-day training camp before its exhibition opener against Canada on Wednesday.

Players began arriving Thursday in Las Vegas; Stephen Curry was the first to check in for camp, perhaps underscoring how anxious he is for what will be his first Olympics. The 12 players have all known each other for years, but the task of becoming a team starts in earnest Saturday.

“I feel like it starts when it gets there, because that’s when you really see each other eye-to-eye,” said Bam Adebayo, who is seeking his second gold medal after winning one at the Tokyo Games three years ago. “You have those conversations, you have those many conversations within what we’re going through, what we’re trying to do. And that’s when it’s time to really be honest about what we want to do.”

That part is easy: Win gold.

The how-to-do-it part, that’s the key.

Last year brought another humbling World Cup experience for the U.S.; after finishing seventh in 2019, the Americans were fourth at Manila. But the argument — or justification, for lack of a better word — for those stumbles was that the U.S. wasn’t sending the best possible roster to those tournaments. Getting the big names like Kevin Durant and LeBron James for the Olympics, that’s one thing. Getting them for the World Cup and asking them to represent their country in back-to-back summers, that’s something else.

Tyrese Haliburton and Anthony Edwards were on that World Cup team last summer and were picked for this Olympic team as well.

“Obviously, last year we didn’t do what we wanted to do,” Haliburton said. “And that was frustrating because any time you get to represent USA Basketball, the expectation is to win. And we weren’t able to do that.”

This team was put together with a very different ending in mind. James is back on the Olympic team for the first time since 2012 and seeking a third gold, Durant is going for what would be a men’s Olympic record fourth basketball gold, and five other players — Adebayo, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum and Anthony Davis — each have one. The first-time Olympians are Haliburton, Edwards, Curry, Kawhi Leonard and Joel Embiid, someone who the U.S. convinced to play despite a strong push by France for the Philadelphia star to represent the host nation in Paris.

As far as choosing a starting lineup, good luck.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Kerr said. “I’m guessing that all 12 players on this roster will be in the Hall of Fame someday. So, how do you pick five out of 12? The idea is, you find combinations that click, and you find two-way lineups that can be effective at both ends. Our big job in Las Vegas is to find five-man combinations that fit and to just ask all 12 guys to fully commit to the goal of winning a gold medal no matter what it looks like, no matter who’s playing.”

The Americans play their first exhibition against Canada in Las Vegas, then have games at Abu Dhabi (against Australia and Serbia) and London (against South Sudan and Germany) before the Paris Games start. The U.S. opens Olympic play July 28 against Serbia and will also have group games against South Sudan and the winner of Sunday’s qualifier in Puerto Rico — either Mexico, Lithuania, Italy or Puerto Rico.

“We’ve got 39 days or so to get locked in to go get this gold medal, 12 amazing, talented guys ready to come together for one goal,” Curry said when he arrived to check in for camp. “I’m hyped for it all.”

MALLORCA BEATS REAL SOCIEDAD ON PENALTIES TO RETURN TO COPA DEL REY FINAL TWO DECADES LATER

 MADRID (AP) — More than two decades later, Mallorca is back in the Copa del Rey final.

The Spanish club partly owned by Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and former NBA great Steve Nash defeated Real Sociedad 5-4 in a penalty shootout on Tuesday to make it to the final 21 years after it won the competition for the only time.

Mallorca goalkeeper Dominik Greif saved the opening penalty by Mikel Oyarzabal, then Sergi Darder converted the decisive kick to put Mallorca in the final. The teams drew 1-1 in regulation and were scoreless in extra time at Sociedad's Reale Arena.

The teams had drawn 0-0 in the first leg in Mallorca on Feb. 6.

Mallorca will play the April 6 final in Seville against either Atletico Madrid or Athletic Bilbao, which will play the second leg of the other semifinal on Thursday in Bilbao. Athletic won the first leg 1-0 in Madrid.

It will be the fourth Copa final for Mallorca, which hadn't made it the title game since it won the tournament in 2003 against Recreativo Huelva. Its other final appearances were in 1991 and 1998. It hadn't made it to the semifinals since 2009.

Mallorca's Mexican coach Javier Aguirre had taken Osasuna to the 2005 final, when it lost to Real Betis.

Sociedad was trying to return to the Copa final for the first time since it beat rival Athletic to lift the trophy in the 2019-20 season.

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