After winning a silver medal against the US team at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the French basketball team will once again face the Americans for the gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The French national team showed promise during their 2020 run, but were without Victor Wembanyama, who was selected number 1 by San Antonio in the 2023 NBA Draft.
The 7-foot-4 man immersed himself deeper in the NBA with each game and showed steady improvement throughout the season. He quickly became a star who lived up to all-time hype – he was unanimously named NBA Rookie of the Year – and finished second for the prestigious Defensive Player of the Year award.
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Like most Olympic players, Wembanyama does not average the same numbers as he does in the NBA, but he still leads France in points (13.8), rebounds (10.2), assists (3.6), steals (2.2) and blocks (2.0).
He has remained relatively consistent with all of these numbers in the five games played, as he has not had any truly standout performances. French teammates Mathias Lessort, Isaia Cordinier and Guerschon Yabusele each had a few games that represented good deviations from their in-game averages and are also players to keep an eye on.
Wembanyama and Co. will face a team that is undefeated in the Games so far and is led by the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Stephen Curry, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in three-point shots, Kevin Durant, the USA Olympics’ all-time leading scorer, and many other of the NBA/world’s best players.
This will be a daunting challenge for Wembanyama and France, but they have a chance to shock the world with a historic upset. If France pulls off that, it would be the country’s first gold medal in men’s Olympic basketball.
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The game begins at 2:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on NBC.
Follow live updates on the performance of Victor Wembanyama, his teammates and Team USA here.
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