The Kings players who are a part of Team USA this summer will log extensive miles before the NBA regular season even begins.
Even with Marvin Bagley III withdrawing from Team USA Camp, there are still two Kings starters that will be represented on the national team this summer. While Kings fans are mixed on whether playing for Team USA is beneficial for them or not, the amount of miles that De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes will log over the next two months is undeniable.
While most Team USA training has taken place on the West Coast, the plane rides are about to get a whole lot longer. After their game against Spain in Anaheim coming up on Friday, players will hop on the 15-hour flight to Australia. They will spend nine days and play three games in the Land Down Under before flying to Shanghai, China on August 29th.
If Team USA advances to the finals of the tournament, they will be spending more than 18 days in China. Their return to the United States would not come until September 16th, just shy of a month after their initial departure for Australia.
It gets worse for Fox and Barnes. Training camp will begin in Sacramento during the last week of September, giving them a little more than a week to recover or relax. Then, the Kings will fly to Mumbai to play two pre-season games against the Pacers on October 4th and 5th in the first-ever NBA games played in India.
Then, the regular season starts. The Kings will travel the third-most miles of any team this upcoming season at just over 50,000. The season is always a grind and a marathon, especially for the West Coast teams that have far longer flights.
Los Angeles to Melbourne: 7,900 miles
Sydney to Beijing: 5,550 miles
Beijing to Sacramento: 5,900 miles
Sacramento to Mumbi & back: 16,700 miles
NBA season: 52,000 miles
Total: 88,050 miles
If the Kings happen to sneak into the playoffs, De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes, along with Utah’s Donavan Mitchell, will be the most traveled players this NBA season.