Steve Kerr Praises Mavs Ex Jalen Brunson as Team USA 'Natural Leader'

Former Dallas Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson is bringing his elite leadership skills to Team USA ahead of the FIBA World Cup. He'll face off against Luka Doncic and Slovenia in a friendly match on Saturday.

DALLAS — Former Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson is currently filling an integral role for Team USA. As the team prepares for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup while practicing in Las Vegas, he is being leaned upon to be the orchestrator of the half-court offense and a vocal leader.

"I think Jalen is such a natural leader," Kerr told ESPN. "Because he's a point guard, he immediately comes to mind. He's the one who's leading the '1, 2, 3 USA' chant. Some guys just, it just comes naturally to them."

"But we've got a great group," Kerr explained. "There's leadership that comes from a lot of them and it's fun to see."

As Team USA continues to experiment with different lineup combination, one option has been to deploy another point guard alongside Brunson. 

"Yeah, we played them separately the first two quarters and then we put them together," Kerr said of his two point guards. "Guys who have feel and can pass, they can play with anybody. But it's fun. It's fun having kind of a dual point guard lineup out there. But I feel the same way honestly, when Austin [Reaves is] out there. Austin's such a good passer and sees the floor so well.

"This is a time where we're just looking at a lot of different combinations and seeing what we have."

Brunson will face off against a familiar face on Saturday, as Team USA will take on Luka Doncic and the Slovenian national team in a friendly match as both teams continue to prepare for the FIBA World Cup. And although Brunson would likely love to have a great showing against his former teammate, he knows that sacrificing for his Team USA teammates is what will give them the best chance of winning.

"I have to be myself," Brunson said. "Don't really step out of my shoes. Just be myself and lead. You got to lead by example, you got to use your voice and you got to know your audience. But I think most importantly what I've got from this group of guys within this first day is that everyone's willing to sacrifice. That's what we need to win, and we have a lot of guys who are willing to do that."

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Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.comand an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).

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