Micah Potter’s ‘once in a lifetime’ Team USA experience with Joel Embiid, LeBron James and Stephen Curry

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There are only so many shots to go around on Team USA’s loaded Olympic roster, tasked with suddenly sharing the orange-and-white FIBA basketball on one of the most talented American outfits ever assembled. All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton didn’t even see the floor in Team USA’s Group C opener against Serbia on Sunday. No U.S. player other than LeBron James took more than 13 shots in that 110-84 victory over Nikola Jokić and Co.

To prepare for such unfamiliar territory, for prime lethal scorers like Tatum and Anthony Edwards to come off the bench as opposed to starting with the ball in their hands, Team USA coaches installed a particular drill during minicamp practice. Steve Kerr’s staff would pick a different spot on the floor, trying to mimic the situation of a player rising off the pine without the chance to warm up and drilling a jumper on a swing-swing sequence. All of Team USA would file along the baseline, taking turns one by one, as the whole group needed to hit 50% of its ice-cold attempts.

“A lot of these guys shoot 20 times a night,” Micah Potter, a member of the Team USA Select Team, told Yahoo Sports. “Some of them might get three to five looks in these games.”

Potter made all but one of those shots throughout Team USA’s four days of Las Vegas practices. With each make, the illustrious figures around the gym began to expect Potter’s shots to swim through cotton. “This is what I do!” he’d shout, spitting fire — like Tatum’s Celtics teammate, Payton Pritchard, another Team USA select player, who flashed his knack for half-court heaves during the NBA Finals. And sure enough, there was Potter, stripping off his navy blue warmup shirt and cashing 2-of-3 triples throughout Team USA’s exhibition play in Abu Dhabi and London, despite sitting for hours of real-time action.

Potter spent the 2023-24 season on a two-way contract with Utah before serving as one of three Team USA Select Team members who both joined the men’s national group on July 5 for training camp in Las Vegas and then traveled with the 12-man unit to those international exhibitions. Langston Galloway, another traveling Select Team player, helped Team USA qualify for the 2023 World Cup. Potter, though, never held a previous connection to the program. He was shocked when his agent, Keith Kreiter, first phoned with the news of his invitation. Potter and his wife, Elle, were planning a much-needed vacation after a long season, but they’d just found a new itinerary.

“This is a non-negotiable. It’s a no-brainer,” Potter said. “This was one of those things where it’s once in a lifetime.”

Potter later learned that Salt Lake City Stars head coach Steve Wojciechowski first recommended the stretch-big man for Team USA. Wojciechowski holds deep connections to the program, playing at Duke just after current Team USA managing director Grant Hill left the Blue Devils, and the coach later served on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff for 15 years. Wojciechowski believed Potter was the perfect hardworking, egoless player to battle against Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo during the Americans’ early practices. He stands 6-foot-10 and 248 pounds, with the ball skill and shooting chops — 37.3% on 142 3-point attempts in the G League last season — to mimic the fluid bigs Team USA would face in FIBA play.

Potter grew close with Embiid during the Las Vegas minicamp, often subbing in for the former NBA MVP during scrimmage play while the 76ers’ center recovered from knee surgery. You could still see a bulky brace through Embiid’s white tights as he started for the Americans against Serbia. Potter learned just how “robotic” that brace feels. During one practice possession, while Potter played scout team, ripping through actions so Team USA could develop chemistry on defensive rotations, he skirted past Haliburton and forced Embiid to meet him at the rim. But Potter’s knee crashed dead-on with Embiid’s metal support. “Oh my goodness, it killed,” Potter chuckled. “It’s one of those things you just play it off like nothing happened,” even though he had to mask all that pain and swelling for the rest of the trip.

Embiid buzzed through those early practices, reveling in Philadelphia’s blockbuster acquisition of Paul George and the one or two other moves he believes the Sixers’ roster may still see throughout this season. That didn’t prevent Embiid from receiving taunts from his teammates about the 280-pound 7-footer’s never-ending layups and hook shots around the basket. “We always ripped him for not dunking the ball and being so big,” Potter said. And so, during a second-quarter highlight amid their exhibition win over Germany, Embiid pointed to the Americans’ bench after he let loose a two-handed jam, as Potter was standing tall and raising the roof.

Potter played 16 games for the Jazz this past campaign. These men are his peers, and yet sharing the same locker room with James did present a special moment for Potter. He’d grown up watching James play for their shared hometown Cavaliers. So during one Vegas practice session, when James shifted to the sideline, he approached the most famous kid from Akron.

“Just so you know,” Potter said. “I’m from Northeast Ohio, too.”

He saw James’ face brighten. “Oh yeah? What part?”

“Mentor,” Potter said, not more than 50 minutes from James’ humble beginnings.

“F***ing right!” James cheered, and then wrapped Potter into a half hug. The acquaintances became allies, right then and right there. By the end of their exhibition play in London, James would surprise Potter with a pair of signed, game-worn Team USA sneakers. “To Micah,” read his script, “Hometown for Life.”

James is this group’s unquestioned vocal leader. “That was evident very quickly,” Potter said. At James’ direction, Team USA met after every game at half court, just as players, with James preaching early feedback for the group to continue building together. Turnovers were a common talking point as the Americans developed chemistry and adjusted to the different FIBA ball. Then they’d all match James’ fist in the center of the circle. “The break was always, ‘Gold,’” Potter said. “‘Gold on three.’” As if this collective’s goal needed any more illustration.

They did not have a first-place experience waiting to lift off from Las Vegas for Abu Dhabi. James, Embiid and Potter boarded the private charter wearing sweats and layers for a long flight full of shuteye, only to find the plane had cut its power to preserve fuel for the long journey east. The cabin swelled past 80 degrees, to Potter’s estimation, as some of the game’s greatest were forced to strip down to the compression tights they’d slipped on under their outfits. “Guys were just sitting there, dripping [with sweat],” Potter laughed.

In London, he witnessed the chaos that comes with any movement from Stephen Curry. The Warriors are well aware: autograph- and selfie-starved fans swarm Golden State’s team hotels and buses after every practice and morning shootaround. Potter and Curry were the two players assigned to one van following a practice, and before their vehicle could even navigate back roads onto a main drag, a woman and her son rushed their ride while the Americans idled at a red light. There was no tint on the windows. Potter saw Curry nose to nose with the fans as if the sharpshooter was looking into a mirror. But Curry noticed the boy was wearing a Curry-brand bucket hat and T-shirt, items one could only purchase directly from Under Armour’s website.

“Steph liked the fact he was a legitimate fan and not just wanting to sell an autographed jersey,” Potter said.

Curry’s security rolled down his window from the passenger seat, took the jersey, passed it back to Curry, and then the four-time champion handed back the newly minted memorabilia. “Then,” Potter said, “the vultures saw that.” Before long, four or five e-bikes were flying down the roads in direct pursuit of the Americans’ van. At each light, hawkers surrounded them with Sharpies and selfie sticks, to the point Curry’s security exited the front seat in order to diffuse the situation.

Where Team USA goes, the world’s biggest basketball stage follows. With each step, Potter found his footing sturdier than before. He is still navigating offers from multiple NBA teams, retaining two-way eligibility as one of the better stretch big men in the G League last season. He’ll bring further self belief to wherever Potter laces his sneakers this fall. He knows his work ethic and preparation are up to task.

“I always belonged,” Potter said of his Team USA experience. “I always felt like I belonged, I competed like I belonged and I performed like I belonged. I never had doubt beforehand, but being on the floor with the best players America has, it just confirmed my confidence.”