PARIS – Canadians may think it was their fault, but it wasn’t.
The same applies to the Germans and Serbs.
When the United States’ predecessor team failed to make it to the FIBA World Championship last summer, finishing fourth behind all three countries mentioned above and once again putting America’s status as the world’s leading basketball team in jeopardy, the timing of the headline the next day was rather odd.
LeBron James, as The athlete reported just one day after the Canadians defeated the U.S. team in the bronze medal game that he was ready to confirm his participation in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. And he planned to bring a whole host of his NBA superstar friends with him.
The American Basketball Avengers with James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and many other elite players were founded.
But this wonderful collection of all-time greats who outlasted Serbia in the semifinals and then won the team’s fifth consecutive gold medal by beating France 98-87 on Saturday night came together regardless of what happened 11 months ago because, well, Father Time demanded it. James is 39. Curry is 36. Durant is 35. And all of them are still – somehow, some way – just incredible at playing the game.
This chance to create lasting memories late in their careers, putting aside all the rivalries and relationship issues from the past, was something they all saw coming long before James reached for his Captain America shield.
“I knew it (when I played for the Brooklyn Nets in the 2022-23 season),” said Durant, the Phoenix Suns star who had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists in the Finals. “(Team USA general manager) Grant (Hill) and (coach) Steve (Kerr) came to Brooklyn and tried to get me to play in the World Championship, so I knew how important it was for us to be there in 2024 and I kind of committed there.”
James would eventually put on his red, white and blue recruiting helmet and go to work to close the deal.
“Last summer, Bron started texting everyone giving his opinion on who we thought should be on the team and (asking) if everyone was going to play,” said Durant, the former Warriors star who became the first player in the program’s illustrious history to win four Olympic gold medals. “When we started texting like that, I knew we were all going to come together and that this was a special time.
“I knew Steph was going to play. He had never been on an Olympic team before. He had a world championship but wanted the Olympic medal. So it was a no-brainer, especially when those two agreed, and once the team was built, I kind of knew it was going to be special.”
LeBron James praised his teammates Steph Curry (left) and Kevin Durant. (Anthony Behar / Sipa USA via Associated Press)
Curry’s Olympic story was the exact opposite of Durant’s.
For all of the Golden State Warriors star’s NBA successes – four titles, two MVPs, all-time best three-point shooter and all the rest – his greatest achievements on the national team were the gold medals he won at the 2010 (Turkey) and 2014 (Spain) FIBA World Cups. Those are certainly laudable, but the American perspective on international tournaments has always been that the games are more important than anything else. But after the Warriors won the 2022 title against Boston, Curry’s truth about the missing piece on his resume came out.
“When we were on the way back from Boston in 2022, I made a joke (with Kerr) that this was the only thing I hadn’t done and I was pretty loose about it,” said Curry, who hit 17 of 26 3-pointers in Team USA’s final two games, scoring 36 and 24 points and was named to the All-Tournament team along with James. “(Then) last September, I saw the World Championship and realized this was something I hadn’t done. I felt healthy and able to do it, so this was something I wanted to do. ‘K’ said the same thing. The texts started flying.”
Fast forward to Saturday night: It was the flags flying high for the Americans.
But while this unique moment was worthy of praise – especially given the way Serbia had pushed them to the limit in the previous match – the meaning of it all went much deeper. A glance at the pitchside seats at the Bercy Arena reminded us of this truth.
As he did in the semifinals, USA team legend and former NBA star Carmelo Anthony played the Americans’ biggest fan all night long. Wearing a red baseball cap with “USA” written on the front, he was joined by the likes of Stephon Marbury, Scottie Pippen and, after the game, Draymond Green of the Warriors. Not far away, one of James’ former teammates and best friends, Dwyane Wade, was finishing up his commentary duties while enjoying all the action.
Anthony and Wade, let no one forget, were both part of the 2004 Olympic team that settled for bronze and sparked a reckoning within the program. As they all learned the hard way with James back then, anything less than gold with that group is a certain shame.
But just like Anthony and Wade before him, James managed to restore his image on that stage by rising to the next Olympic challenge. A gold medal in Beijing in 2008. Another in London in 2012. And then, last and not least, that memorable highlight (14 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds) that saw him tie with Anthony for second place on the program’s all-time gold medal list. James earned MVP honors for his Olympic run, as he averaged 14.2 points, 8.5 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
So James was asked, “What means most to him?”
“I mean, (this one) is the best because it’s what’s right right now,” he said diplomatically. “I mean, the Redeem Team (in 2008) obviously had a lot – you know, we needed to come back because we had a couple of years where we didn’t play our best. So in 2008 the Redeem Team came back and then in 2012 we played well too and were able to win that in London.”
The most beautiful part of the whole thing, and what seemed to justify these players’ decision to team up, was that at the end, James couldn’t stop gushing about Curry and Durant. It didn’t matter that they’d all had all these different issues in the past, from the Curry-James duels in the NBA Finals that sparked so much discussion about who was the best player in the league, to the Durant debate that covered similar topics. They were here at this late date to create something memorable together.
“Yeah, it’s amazing, it’s unbelievable,” James said when asked about Curry.
He was then asked about Durant.
“KD?” James said in response. “KD is one of the all-time greats. There’s no question about it. I mean, you just have to look at his silhouette, his skill level. He’s one of the best basketball players we’ve ever seen play basketball.”
As James admitted before the gold medal game, the reality at this stage of your career is that you just don’t know how many more times you can play for something big. James’ Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs last season, as were Durant’s Suns. Curry’s Warriors, on the other hand, didn’t even qualify for the postseason after being eliminated in a play-in game by the Sacramento Kings.
Even if they don’t achieve anything on the basketball court from now on, their legacy will be one of the greatest ever.
“It’s everything I imagined it would be and more,” Curry said. “The guys in the locker room, we all joined in on the mission to continue USA Basketball’s dominance. Obviously, I understand it’s going to be a really tough task because we’re going to have to compete against some great teams, and at the end of it, there’s a sense of relief, but it’s obviously more of a sense of accomplishment knowing what we accomplished.”
(Top photo: Amin Mohammad Jamali / Getty Images)
