We always hear about “sacrifice” when it comes to the Olympics, and in the case of the U.S. men’s basketball team, which is loaded with NBA millionaires, the sacrifice is just as big. Paul George learned this the hard way during the Americans’ win over Venezuela on Monday night.
At a timeout, George was enjoying a cool drink, one designed to replenish his electrolytes so his team could beat some country by 50 instead of 40. In the NBA, when one finishes a drink, he holds the empty cup above his head like some sort of Viking king, and a servant appears as if from nowhere to retrieve the cup and properly discard it or even refill it while the basketball man focuses on basketball.
Sorry, but that’s the not the case here. The look of heartbreak in George’s eyes as he realizes that he alone decides the fate of his plastic cup is difficult to watch. He must throw it away (or leave it under the seat like he’s at a movie or ballgame). Did this have any effect on George or his teammates in this contest?
The United States defeated Venezuela by only 44 points.
Not having a bus boy to take his garbage had no bearing on George, though, as he had 20 points in 20 minutes off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting, proving once again that American athletes can overcome all odds.
Or maybe George has an imaginary friend named Bizzleboops and he was offering Bizzleboops a sip of his drink through a magic straw. I’m not on the ground in Rio so I can’t ask the hard questions.
