USA Olympic flag bearers: Why LeBron James was chosen to lead U.S. at 2024 opening ceremony

Being chosen to participate in the Olympics is one of the greatest honors an athlete can experience, but an even greater accolade awaits two Team USA athletes at the 2024 Summer Games.

The United States will choose two flag bearers to lead the country into the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics. These individuals — one male and one female — are chosen by their Team USA counterparts and will lead the delegation of more than 350 athletes onto the world's greatest stage.

Who has earned the highest honors among the United States' 592 athletes at the Paris Games? Here's what to know about the country's flag bearers for the 2024 opening ceremony.

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Who are the U.S. Olympic flag bearers at the 2024 Olympics?

• Male flag bearer : LeBron James
• Female flag bearer : TBA

Team USA announced Monday that LeBron James would be its male flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics. The governing body is expected to announce its female flag bearer Tuesday.

James and his counterpart will become the second duo to co-lead the United States into the Summer Olympics. WNBA star Sue Bird and Eddy Alvarez — who earned silver medals in speed skating and baseball during his Olympic career — were the first pair to share the honors at the 2021 Tokyo Games.

James is the first-ever male basketball player to serve as a flag bearer for Team USA. He is the third basketball player to earn the honor overall, as Bird (2021) and Dawn Staley (2000) each carried the flag while representing the U.S. women's basketball team.

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Why LeBron James is an Olympic flag bearer

James was chosen as an Olympic flag bearer by his peers, who voted on the honorees in a poll conducted by the Team USA Athletes' Commission.

It's easy to understand why James was chosen. The 39-year-old is playing in his fourth Olympics and led Team USA to gold in his last two appearances in Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

James' 273 points scored are the third-most ever by an American man at the Olympics, behind only Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony. He could pass Anthony in Paris if all goes well for Team USA.

James has publicly stated the 2024 Summer Games will be his last Olympics, so it makes sense to honor him for being one of the long-time faces of USA Basketball.

"Being selected by your teammates to carry the flag is a tremendous honor – and a testament to LeBron’s passion for Team USA and his dedication to his sport," USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said as part of her statement announcing James as flag bearer.

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U.S. Olympic flag bearers by year

Below is a look at Team USA's flag bearers at the Summer Games dating back to the 1908 London Olympics.

Team USA only had two flag bearers once before Tokyo 2021. That came during the 1956 Olympics, when equestrian events for the Summer Games were held in Stockholm, Sweden rather than host city Melbourne because of Australia's immigration laws surrounding horses.

As such, Norman Armitage led the U.S. delegation at the ceremony in Melbourne. Meanwhile, Wooford represented the United States in Stockholm at the equestrian events, which were held five months before the Olympics began.