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My routine with Team USA, compared to my NBA routine, was inconsistent. I tried to stick to my regular road workouts, but the big unknown was always the environment. During the NBA season, I knew how every city and stadium operated, which made it easier for me to visualize everything from the bus ride to the final buzzer.
When you go to China, Spain, the UK, Turkey, you don’t know what the bus to the game is going to look like, you don’t know what the training room is going to look like, and you don’t know the layout of the arenas. Those details tend to vary, so I had to adjust accordingly.
Mentally, though, I approached national team games with the utmost intensity. I knew I was playing against guys I had never faced before, and I knew I was going to defend the other country’s best player, so I locked in. I studied a lot of film and tried to figure out who my opponents were. The last thing I wanted to do was risk stepping out blindly against an unknown-but-great player.
Preparation was critical.
