This summer, the are several members, both past and present, of the Memphis Grizzlies who are gearing up for a go at gold during the 2023 FIBA World Cup. That said, despite these already-established relationships, star big man Jaren Jackson Jr. has made it clear that he does not wish to mingle with anyone outside of his team’s respective roster for the duration of the festivities.
Serving as a key starting frontcourt presence for Team USA this year, when asked by Yahoo Sports NBA reporter Krysten Peek whether he had been “talking a little trash” to the likes of 2022-23 Grizzlies teammates Santi Aldama (Team Spain) or Dillon Brooks (Team Canada), the tweener big acknowledged that he had not and playfully admitted he currently has no plans to do so.
“I’m not talking to Santi until I get back to camp. And I’m not talking to DB. I might talk to DB a little. Eh, no, I’m not talking– I’m not talking to DB, even though I texted him, like, maybe yesterday. But soon, I’m going to stop talking to both of them,” Jackson said.
Despite this, Jackson did toss some praise toward his country’s northern neighbors in Team Canada (i.e. Brooks’ squad), telling Peek that, in his eyes, they will be the toughest competition for the United States considering their abundance of noteworthy talents.
Team USA voted Jaren Jackson Jr. as the MVP of training camp for the FIBA World Cup.
— Grizz Lead (@Grizz_Lead) August 7, 2023
The end result was “a landslide” according to @TheAthleticNBA.
TEAM USA TRIP IS ABOUT TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD CUP. 😤 pic.twitter.com/IzXAV6yWrz
Jackson Jr. has seemingly carried over his astounding on-court production from this past season into this year’s World Cup and was acknowledged by Team USA teammates for his efforts by being labeled as the most outstanding participant from training camp.
He has also received ample praise from coach Steve Kerr for his production on the team, as he was recognized by the nine-time NBA Champion as “a really great young player.”
Jackson finds himself coming off a career-best campaign where he posted stellar per-game averages of 18.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks while shooting a highly efficient 50.6 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from deep through 63 games played.
As a result of his efforts, he nabbed the first All-Star selection of his career, a second-consecutive All-Defensive team honor, and, most notably, was awarded the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
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