Led by three of the biggest stars that the world of sports has ever seen, Team USA was able to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The gold medal that they won on Saturday, August 10 against France at the Bercy Arena in Paris marked Team USA's fifth-straight and also marked the second-straight Olympics in which they beat France for gold. It was a win that also may have served as an Olympic swan song for a generation of players that many of us have grown up watching. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry all starred for what could be the final time at the Olympics.
Each of the three future Hall-of-Fame members had clutch moments throughout the tournament, and fans were simply going ballistic getting to watch three top-10 players of all time on the same team. For the 39-year-old James, he walked away from Paris with his fourth medal overall, third gold. He was also named the MVP of the tournament after averaging 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists while shooting 66% from the field.
On top of his on-the-court accomplishments, his teaming up with star Durant and Curry led to some epic highlights that will go down in the history books. The most notable of course is the alley-oop from Curry against Canada in the exhibition game, or the nice pass from Durant against Serbia that saw James tie the game up. However, aside from accolades and highlights from this trio, we also got an epic picture of the three of them with their gold medals. A photo that James has since changed to his Instagram profile picture.
There were initially questions heading into the tournament as to who would be the leader or alpha of the team, but it became quite clear during the exhibition wins over South Sudan and Germany that it was James. He initiated the offense throughout the tournament, and even showed an ability to play some tenacious defense as we saw when he chose to guard Serbia's Nikola Jokic. Something that he is often caught flack for during the NBA season, as many believe he takes possessions off on defense. It was clear that he was bought all the way in, and wanted to cap off his final Olympic games with a bang.
As for Durant who came into the tournament as Team USA's all-time leading scorer, he was able to make a massive impact off the bench and in the starting five. He finished the tournament averaging 13.8 points, and an absolute dagger against Serbia that helped the Stars and Stripes overcome a double-digit deficit.
The 2024 Olympics marked the first for Curry, and he certainly made a late push for the MVP of the tournament. He led the team in scoring with 14.8 points per game, and blew up in the semifinal and final games averaging 30 points in the most important games of the tournament.
Unlike James who said he doesn't see himself playing in the 2028 Olympics, Durant and Curry returning for the Los Angeles Games could be possible. However, if this was their final time suiting up for the Red, White, and Blue they certainly would be going out on a high note.
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