Nuggets’ Faried relishes experience with Team USA

The last time Kenneth Faried was in Las Vegas, he left town with a knot in his stomach.

He was on the court at the Thomas &Mack Center the night of Aug. 1, when Indiana’s Paul George broke his leg early in the fourth quarter of the USA Basketball Showcase scrimmage.

On Saturday, Faried was back in Las Vegas, this time with his NBA team, the Denver Nuggets, as they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 104-93 in a preseason game in front of 8,331 at Mandalay Bay. But he still has that disturbing image in his mind of seeing his USA teammate go down behind the basket.

“You never expect to see an injury like that,” Faried said. “It was the scariest thing I’d seen on a basketball court in my life.”

Faried had played well that night before George’s injury, which caused a cancellation of the scrimmage. The 6-foot-8-inch power forward worked his way onto Team USA’s roster and was an important contributor to the Americans winning the gold medal at the FIBA World Cup in Spain last month.

Faried averaged 12.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and shot 64 percent from the floor for Team USA, which claimed an automatic bid into the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“It was the greatest experience of my life,” Faried said. “I learned so much about basketball. Playing and practicing against superstars and being coached by Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski), I came out of Spain a much better all-around player. My confidence is at an all-time high. I’m confident in my abilities. I’m confident in my teammates. I’m confident, period.”

The Nuggets saw the same thing and didn’t want to lose their franchise player. Faried, who is entering his fourth NBA season, recently agreed to a five-year, $60 million contract extension to remain the face of the Nuggets.

“It’s a great place to chill, and the people are wonderful,” Faried said. “I want to grow with the city, and I’m comfortable being a leader. I’ve been ready to be a leader ever since I got to this league.”

Faried knows that just because he helped Team USA qualify for the 2016 Olympics, it doesn’t mean he has a spot on the roster. But he did build some equity and goodwill with Jerry Colangelo, the managing director of Team USA and the head of USA Basketball.

“It would be huge,” Faried said of again representing his country in international competition. “In this country, people think the Olympics are the most important, but the rest of the world thinks the World Cup is the most important. But it’s been a dream of mine to go to the Olympics, and I hope I get the opportunity.”

Faried said despite what happened to George, he never thought about quitting the national team.

“You get scared, but you can’t think like that,” he said. “It’s basketball. Things happen. But you gotta stay locked in. You gotta stay focused. I saw just about my whole team (the Nuggets) go down last year. But I had to keep playing and keep doing my job.”

The Nuggets missed the playoffs last year. But with a healthy Danilo Gallinari back from successful surgery on his left knee, an injury that kept him out all of last season, a more productive Ty Lawson and some contributions from the bench, Faried believes the Nuggets can get back to the postseason.

“I’m glad people are underestimating us,” said Faried, who has a great nickname — “Manimal” — that speaks to his ferociousness on the court. “People have underestimated me my whole life. So if everyone’s overlooking us, I like it. We’ve got a talented, young team, and we’re going to surprise a lot of people this year but not ourselves.”

Faried said he’s not going to get comfortable despite his newfound financial security. He is expected to lead the Nuggets, and it’s a role he is embracing. At the same time, he wants to take the lessons learned this summer with Team USA and apply them to his game to where he can become a true superstar in the NBA.

“I don’t have a ceiling,” said Faried, who had 19 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes as the Nuggets improved to 2-4. The Clippers, who were led by Blake Griffin’s 27 points, fell to 1-4.

“I don’t believe in walls or the idea of ‘maxing out.’ I believe in working hard and getting better and loving this game. I’m not going to put restrictions on myself on how good I can be.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.