Current:Home > NewsVice President Harris stops by US Olympic basketball practice. Her message: ‘Bring back the gold’ -Prime Money Path
Vice President Harris stops by US Olympic basketball practice. Her message: ‘Bring back the gold’
View
Date:2025-04-16 06:01:40
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris was a surprise guest at the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team’s practice Tuesday, and her message was clear.
“Bring back the gold,” Harris said.
Harris — who flew to Las Vegas on Tuesday for campaign appearances — addressed the team briefly at the end of its fourth and final training camp practice session. She has long said that she’s a Golden State Warriors fan; the U.S. team is coached by the Warriors’ Steve Kerr and includes Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
“It’s a great reminder of the fact that we’re playing for our country,” said Kerr, who has met Harris on multiple occasions because of her Warriors fandom. “Vice President Harris told the guys how much she admired them, how much they really embody excellence and that we are going over there to try to win a gold medal for our country.”
Harris shook hands with the players, chatted briefly with LeBron James and a few others, and posed for a group photo with the team.
“Truly, you all represent the best of the best,” Harris told them. “And being Team USA, it is about representing our nation. You are, as you are every day on and off the court, ambassadors for who we are as a country. You represent leaders in every walk of life. And for you to go to Paris and bring back that gold is just another example of your excellence, your teamwork, your compassion and your commitment.”
U.S. assistant coach Erik Spoelstra said he didn’t know the vice president was coming to practice.
Paris Olympics
- The Olympics are more than fun and games. They’re a billion-dollar business with political overtones.
- Breakdance will make it’s debut as an Olympic sport in Paris.. Here’s what else will be different at this year’s games.
- Follow all of AP’s coverage of the Summer Games.
“It was a pretty special moment for the entire group,” Spoelstra said. “She just mentioned that we represent our country and everybody’s going to be watching and rooting for us and it’s a big responsibility. But she knows that we all are putting in the work to represent everybody here and do it with class.”
Harris is planning to meet with voters in both Las Vegas and Dallas this week. She’s facing extra attention among Democrats considering her prospects as a possible replacement for President Joe Biden, who is resisting calls to step aside.
The U.S. men’s team plays its first of five pre-Olympic exhibition games Wednesday against Canada in Las Vegas. Even though that game won’t have any bearing on the Olympics — the first U.S. game in France is against Serbia on July 28 — Harris encouraged the team to go ahead and start winning now.
“Our nation is cheering you on and we are so proud of you,” Harris said. “Beat Canada and bring back that gold.”
___
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
veryGood! (69)
Related
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- CBS shows are back after actors' strike ends. Here are the 2024 premiere dates
- Jewish protesters and allies block Israeli consulate in Chicago, demanding a cease-fire in Gaza
- Full transcript of Face the Nation, Nov. 12, 2023
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Ford opens exclusive Bronco Off-Roadeo courses to non-owners for first time
- Michigan man pleads guilty to making violent threats against Jews
- Blake Shelton Shares Insight Into Life in Oklahoma With Wife Gwen Stefani
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Officials exhume the body of a Mississippi man buried without his family’s knowledge
Ranking
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Billie Eilish Gets Candid on Her Sexuality and Physical Attraction to Women
- Reports of Russian pullback in Ukraine: a skirmish in the information war
- Teens wrote plays about gun violence — now they are being staged around the U.S.
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- 'We need to record everything': This team stayed behind in a Ukrainian war zone
- Tourists find the Las Vegas Strip remade for its turn hosting Formula One
- Kevin Turen, producer of 'Euphoria' and 'The Idol,' dies at 44: Reports
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
Kel Mitchell Shares Health Update After Hospitalization
2 more endangered Florida panthers struck and killed by vehicles, wildlife officials say
Footprints lead rescuers to hypothermic hiker — wearing only a cotton hoodie — buried under snow on Colorado mountain
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
Confederate military relics dumped during Union offensive unearthed in South Carolina river cleanup
See Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater Step Out for Broadway Date Night
Donald Trump Jr. returns to witness stand as New York fraud trial enters new phase