Kemba Walker doesn’t mind some basketball with added spice.
The Boston Celtics and United States guard dismissed Serbia coach Aleksandar “Sasha” Djordjevic’s 2019 FIBA World Cup warning to Team USA as nothing but “a little bit of trash talking,” telling ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on Tuesday he’s “fine” with it. Fourth-ranked Serbia is expected to rival Team USA for the World Cup title, and Djordjevic recently provided the U.S. with this bulletin-board material ahead of the tournament.
“Let’s let them play their basketball and we will play ours and if we meet, may god help them,” Djordjevic said, according to Eurohoops.net and Mozzart Sport.
However, Djordjevic’s quote didn’t phase Walker on bit, especially in light of the fact the U.S. and Serbia probably won’t meet until the quarterfinals or later.
“I could care less, man,” Walker said Tuesday, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “Honestly, we’re going to take it one game at a time. At the end of the day, we both have to make it to a certain place for us to even play each other.
“I guess when we get there, if we match up, then we’ll see what’s up. “But it’s fine. I’m fine with a little bit of trash talking. I don’t mind it at all.”
The World Cup will take place between Aug. 31 and Sept. 15 in China, where USA will seek its third consecutive world championship and direct qualification to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Walker is one of four Celtics competing for spots on Team USA’s World Cup roster. Head coach Gregg Popovich will name his final 12-man roster Saturday, and most expect Walker will be on it as one of the leaders of the U.S. squad. Should that happen, Walker and his teammates won’t have to wait too long to make Djordjevic eat his words.
