Jim Boeheim calls Kyle Lowry ‘the best team player’ on USA Basketball

Kyle Lowry is one of the more underappreciated talents in the NBA, but he earned his stripes playing for USA Basketball this summer in the eyes of Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.

In an interview with Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated after Team USA won the gold medal on Sunday, Boeheim, an assistant on the team, had high praise for the Raptors point guard.

“[Lowry] was the best team player out of everybody,” Boeheim said. “He just really bought in and was a great leader and gave everything he had every time he went out there. That was important for our team.”

The 30-year-old Lowry was used in a bench role in Rio but was one of the few players on the team who moved the ball well and effectively initiated offense for others. While it may have helped that Lowry was the only true point guard on the roster, the two-time All-Star definitely blossomed in his first Olympic Games and proved why he was a worthy selection to the team.

Hopefully, Lowry and backcourt partner DeMar DeRozan use their Olympic experience to help Toronto take the next step in 2016-17 after coming within just two wins of the NBA Finals last postseason. Maybe they picked up a handy decompression technique or two in Rio as well.

H/T theScore