Barnes reflects on gold-medal ride with USA

DALLAS (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Harrison Barnes captured an NBA title with the Golden State Warriors in 2015 and an Olympic gold medal with the USA last summer.

He's still only 24 years of age, too, which means there is plenty more to come from the Iowa native and former North Carolina Tar Heel.

Barnes did not log many minutes at the Rio de Janeiro Games yet he was an important member of a talented roster and clearly benefitted from the experience.

He is averaging 20.8 points in 35.9 minutes per game - both career highs - in his first season with the Dallas Mavericks.

The 24-year-old  spoke to FIBA.com.

Harrison, what can you say about the opportunity to be with the USA last summer?
It was great. Living the Olympic experience and being around so many great players is amazing. To see how they practice, to see how they play, knowing about those guys and to share the experiences they have had with the national team before is good. I tried to learn as much as I could and tried to make the most of the situation.

How did you feel when you made it through the tournament after some tough games and stepped onto the podium?
Relief, honestly. USA Basketball has a great tradition of always looking and fighting for gold. We played some exhibition games where we were a bit sloppy and we almost lost some games but we kept the streak alive, which was very important for us. We had one goal: to keep the gold tradition. It was definitely a relief to win that medal.

You didn't play that much but still took something positive from the Rio Games with the USA. Can you talk about that?
It was a huge motivation for me. It was a dream to be on the Olympic team but at the same time you want to play and I understand the sacrifice for the good and the great of the team but at the same time you just use it as a motivation. The fact that I used most of my time watching, practicing, seated on the sidelines and sharing with the team definitely gave me good fire coming into this season.

Which teams do you think gave the USA the hardest time during that tournament?
Serbia played us tough. Australia gave us a hard time; it felt like a championship game; and Spain historically as they have an amazing team that is used to this kind of competition.

Have you talked to your Mavericks teammates, including Andrew Bogut, and your former Warriors teammates, about the Olympic experience?
I have spoken about it a couple of times with my former Warriors teammates Draymond Green and Klay Thompson as we had a good time and won the medal. But not that much with Andrew Bogut, as it is still a sore subject given that Australia finished the tournament in fourth place.

What was the adjustment to international basketball like for you?
For me it was great. I always love to play in the summer so being able to do so was really good for me just to get better and hopefully I will get the opportunity again to play for Team USA and also play more minutes.