PARIS – “A Gold Medal in Four Acts”, author and leading actor Wardell Stephen Curry.

Stephen Curry hugged Kevin Durant at midcourt at Bercy Arena. They both held a U.S. flag that enveloped them both. They had won two consecutive NBA championships together when they changed the league’s trajectory by joining forces with the Golden State Warriors. Now they were celebrating something few people get to do in basketball: winning an Olympic gold medal, in another country. And very few people needed to do it, as it was essentially the away team here in front of a sold-out crowd doing everything in their power to help their beloved French national team pull off an improbable, gigantic upset.

But Curry just wouldn’t let it happen.

With four three-pointers in the final three minutes, four shots each more ridiculous than the last and the last one defying all common sense and logic, Curry secured the United States’ fifth consecutive gold medal in men’s Olympic basketball, defeating France 98-87. It was Durant’s fourth gold medal. His place as the greatest player in U.S. international basketball history is secure. This was Curry’s first gold. At 36, it might also be his only gold. But he wanted it so badly and has wanted it for a long, long time.

“We always say you do what the game demands and what you feel in the flow of the game,” Curry said afterward after making eight 3-pointers on Saturday, in addition to the nine he made in the Americans’ incredible comeback win over Serbia in the semifinals.

LeBron James was a worthy MVP of the tournament. What he accomplished in those two weeks at the age of 39 is simply indescribable. But Curry was the indispensable man in the last two games when the medals were at stake. That he did that after not shooting well at all during group play is just part of the Curry legend.

“Coach (Steve Kerr) reminded me at a certain point that the game will come to you if you let it,” Curry said. “And even if I miss shots, I just have to stay focused. And that’s helped keep me focused the last two games because the game required me to make shots and make them. … you just stay confident, stay present and don’t let the situation get to you.”

There was a reason Curry was so excited — “like a little kid,” USA Basketball executive director Grant Hill said in April — when he was officially invited to play for USA Basketball after being injured in 2016 and opting not to play in Japan in 2021. There was no doubt that once James and Durant recommitted to playing for their country, Curry would join them.

“And I had two extra months to train,” Curry said, referring to the fact that the Warriors failed to make the playoffs last season.

The Americans had the upper hand for most of Saturday’s game. But a sloppy end to the third quarter, more mistakes in the fourth and a starved home crowd that kept the energy high gave France a chance. And they took advantage. They cut a 13-point deficit early in the third to six by the end of the quarter. Then five with 3:32 left. Then three, on Victor Wembanyama’s offensive rebound dunk with 3:04 left. Bercy was beside itself. The impossible dream of avenging their 2021 loss to the U.S. in Tokyo was within reach.

“Steph took over down the stretch,” Kerr said. “He actually suggested in the timeout, ‘Let me do a clear side pick and roll with LeBron and we’ll clear the court.’ I said OK, because I’ve seen it before and it usually works out well.”

First Act

USA 82, France 79, 3:04 remaining

Curry fakes a shot from Frenchman Guerschon Yabusele, then rises from 26 feet to the right of the key and sinks a 3-pointer with Yabusele’s hands at his sides to get the U.S. team back within six points. On his way back onto the court, he gives the French fans the “calm down” treatment with palms down.

CURRY TIME. 🥶

A huge three-pointer to change the momentum late. #ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/kDSOCr9bao

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) 10 August 2024

“Steph has earned that over the last few weeks,” Kerr said. “Over the last few weeks, every day, the work ethic. I always tell people, when Kevin was with our team, my favorite part of training with the Warriors after practice was watching those two work. It’s no accident that they’re able to do what they’re able to do in the final stages of games. The work, just watching those two guys, day after day after day, is really impressive. I talked about LeBron during this experience, too. When you see those guys behind the scenes and how hard they work, how much they love the process of the work itself, it makes sense that they’re as good as they are.”

Second Act

USA 87, France 81, 2:10 remaining

This time, Curry fakes a shot to Nicolas Batum and then sidesteps from 27 feet. “Bang,” as Mike Breen would say. As he runs back onto the court, Curry points to his chest and says something to the U.S. bench. It seemed as if he said, “You can’t cover me!” Maybe he said, “You can’t (bleep) cover me!” (Although Curry doesn’t actually swear much.) In any case, it becomes clear that he’s right and the French can’t (bleep) cover him.

pause

In it, various Olympic teammates talk about the best shooter in NBA history …

LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers: “I’ve seen that before. But in a different uniform.”

Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns: “Out-of-body experience.”

Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves: “I’ve been able to witness some great things. … Watching Steph? Hey, I just told him, ‘Boy, you’re crazy, bro.’ Shorty’s crazy. I have nothing to say about it. He is who he is, you understand me?”

Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat: “I was like, ‘What the hell?’ But then I had to remember who shot. And we’ve all seen him do such incredible things.”

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: “Like I said, it’s fun to be on his side. One great shot after another. And the difficulty of those shots and the moment, it was incredible.”

Third Act

USA 90, France 84, 1:43 remaining

This time it’s Nando de Colo in the crockpot. Curry, fake shot, pull up… you know how it works by now, right?

Cooked de Colo.

The U.S. is back up by nine points with 1:18 to go. And Curry starts screaming – a primal scream like the one “Og,” who lives in Spain’s Atapuerca Mountains, might have let out when the rocks he’d been rubbing together for a week finally fired and burned and Og could finally cook the mastodon he’d killed a week ago. Or it might be the scream of a 36-year-old man who desperately wanted to be an Olympian for so long and never made it, but finally made it in the most amazing way possible, in what were likely the last two Games of his Olympic career.

Fourth Act

USA 93, France 87, 0:55 remaining

France, a smart, experienced team coached by a legend in Vincent Collet, now double-covers Curry and sends both Batum and Evan Fournier after the pick and roll. They “blitz” him, as they say in NBA parlance, and try to get him to pass the ball to someone else. Plus, the shot clock, now the size of a small hovercraft placed on Curry’s back, was ticking toward zero. But Curry goes behind his back, dribbles to the right of the key and lets the ball fly, over both The outstretched arms of Batum and Fournier, from somewhere near Nice.

Injections.

“THE GOLDEN DAGGER!”

Steph Curry, this is completely ridiculous. 🤯#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/8hIN8tgmfK

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) 10 August 2024

“Every shot you make, you think it’s going to go in,” Curry said. “That was at the end of a long series of shots,” Curry said. “At the end of the day, all I saw was the basket. I didn’t see who was in front of me. I knew it was some kind of late summer situation. That impressed me. I impressed myself, for sure. For sure.”

And he gave a whole nation a lucky break when he walked across the court again. Well done, France, well done.

“Honestly, I told him, ‘There’s no way you can do that,'” Edwards said. “Because he threw the ball high. But he was cold. He was cold.”

A side note: A French team with Nolan Traoré, who will play for the French team Saint-Quentin next season and will compete for France as point guard in Los Angeles in 2028, with Wemby and Rudy Gobert and Bilal Coulibaly and Yabusele and maybe Alexandre Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher and Tidjane Salaun… well, let’s just say that would be a damn good rematch between the USA and The Bluess. What if Embiid made an ultimate heel turn like Hogan at Bash at the Beach 1996 and decided to play for France? Holy blue!

Will Curry be in Los Angeles by the time he’s 40? I mean, Durant didn’t rule it out when asked, and he’s been playing for USA Basketball for 14 years. Who knows what Chef Curry can cook up next?

“It’s everything I imagined it would be and more,” Curry said of his first Olympic experience. “We all joined in on this mission to continue USA Basketball’s dominance. Obviously, I knew it was going to be a really tough task because we were going to be competing against some great teams. At the end of it, it’s a feeling of relief, but it’s more of a feeling of accomplishment, obviously, knowing what we accomplished. I’ve watched the medal ceremonies at other events. I’ve seen (Durant) win all three of his medals. I’ve seen it and imagined what it would feel like. It wasn’t really like I could take something off my resume, it was more like I hadn’t experienced it yet and didn’t know what it would be like. … Everything was eye-opening, from start to finish.”

(Top photo of Stephen Curry: Christina Pahnke – sampics / Getty Images)