GREEN LIGHT
IT’S ABOUT AN hour before tip-off of USA-France in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup, and people are slowly filing into the Dongguan Basketball Center. Jaylen Brown comes out of the locker room to go through his warm-up. He’s got his headphones on and ignores the chaos unfolding around him—teammates shooting on the same hoop, stadium announcers rowdily engaging the crowd, hundreds of local fans pointing phones in his direction, media members snapping pictures. He stays locked in on his routine, starting behind the three-point line and working his way to the paint.
The game is a physical one from the outset. Led by reigning DPOY Rudy Gobert, France tries to bully USA’s smaller frontcourt. Myles Turner gets into foul trouble and the 6-7 Brown suddenly finds
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