LAS VEGAS _ Draymond Green recalls it well.
He earned a spot on the 2011 USA Basketball team that competed at the World University Games in China just before his senior season at Michigan State.
The team finished in fifth place with a 7-1 record, but he thought his days representing the United States were over.
He was wrong.
Now he owns an NBA title ring.
Also an NBA All-Star with the Golden State Warriors and one of the league's top defenders, Green will represent the red, white and blue next month at the Rio Summer Olympics.
Rio is a long way from Saginaw, the town where he first began to make his name.
It sort of represents his journey from being an NBA second-round pick to hearing his name called among the league's best.
"Obviously with a lot of hard work _ and things went right," Green said this week during Team USA's training camp.
"At the end of the day, you need a little luck. I'm blessed. Just to be here and when I look back at that journey, it wasn't easy at all, but it's definitely a rewarding feeling."
