Steph Curry's First (and Probably Last) Olympic Games

D uring the USA men’s Olympic basketball training camp in Las Vegas in early July, Stephen Curry was asked why he picked this moment to finally make his debut at the Games. Back in 2012 and 2016, Curry reminded his inquisitor, the decision was made for him: he didn’t make the cut for London, after his third season in the NBA, and he skipped Rio four years later due to injuries. Curry couldn’t even remember why he sat out Tokyo —he’s not alone in blocking out the COVID-19 days. Curry’s public comments from 2021 suggest that he was  content to relax with his family that summer, pass on the hassle of those isolated and unattended Olympics, and look ahead to the upcoming 2022 season.

(Perhaps not coincidentally, Curry and the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title that year, the team’s fourth of the Curry era.)

“I’m feeling as healthy as I’ve ever been,” Curry told a group of reporters in Vegas, wearing a black bucket hat you might otherwise expect to see on a fishing boat. Maybe the only positive of Golden State not making the playoffs this year: Curry had plenty of time to both rest and get ready for the Games. Then there’s that none too small matter of age.

“It’s probably, realistically, my last opportunity to even have a chance to play,” says Curry, 36. Sure, Curry takes good care of himself. And his Olympic teammate LeBron James is still going strong at 39. But if you’re keen on experiencing the Olympics, you can’t count on mimicking James’ ageless play, and waiting for LA in 2028.

“It all kind of aligned the right way,” says Curry. “I hope it continues to align to a gold medal.”

Almost all of the all-time great men’s basketball players have at least one of them, an Olympic gold medal. Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant own a pair: Kevin Durant has three. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson got theirs on the 1992 Dream Team; old-time legends like Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, and the late Jerry West stood atop the podium. Perhaps the top three U.S. players to never get a gold medal are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Curry. Curry’s definitely the lone 21st-century American super-duper star without one.

He’s earned every other accolade in basketball. Two-time NBA MVP. Four-time champion. NBA Finals MVP, in 2022. And most important, the man who put a premium on three-point shooting, and single-handedly changed how basketball, America’s most influential global sporting export, is played, from the NBA arenas on down to the dusty barns of CYO.

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“This,” says Warriors assistant coach and Curry confidante Bruce Fraser, referring to Curry’s Olympic quest, “is the final piece.”

And it’s only fitting that he’s joining forces with James in France. They battled for titles and alpha status over four straight Finals series, from 2015 to 2018, with Curry’s Warriors getting the better of James’ Cavs in three of those matchups. (Though one can argue Durant’s defection from Oklahoma City to an already loaded Golden State team for the 2017 and 2018 championship runs didn’t quite make it a fair fight.)

“We hated LeBron,” says Fraser. “He hated us.” But six years after their last Finals battle, it’s clearer than ever that both players benefitted from those duels. James delivered on his ultimate promise: to bring Cleveland its first championship title , in any major pro sport, in 52 years. That accomplishment placed him on a pinnacle, forever.

Curry, meanwhile, led a dynasty. At this point, the two players—born nearly four years apart at the same Akron, Ohio, hospital—can just enjoy their remaining matchups, and this precious time together as teammates. “You can feel that they have a really true connection,” says Fraser. “So they're very similar in their approach. They work, they think, they strive for greatness.”

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Fraser worked out Curry at the Warriors facility in San Francisco as he geared up for the Games. (Curry primarily works with his longtime private trainer, Brandon Payne, in the offseason.) He could sense Curry’s vigor for the task at hand. “The one thing that you don't see through the green eyes and the smile is the competitive spirit he has,” says Fraser. “He’s going to be going after it.”

The Americans, a comically talented team on paper—James, Curry, Durant, 2023 MVP Joel Embiid, recently crowned NBA champs Jason Tatum, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday, Anthony Davis, emerging superstar Anthony Edwards, etc.—will still need to learn to mesh. At the outset of the team’s first exhibition game, against Canada in Las Vegas on July 10, the U.S. looked rusty.

“It’s a test, and it’s a challenge, to try to figure out … the chemistry,” Curry told reporters after the game. “The flow, and the rhythm, especially on offense, ‘cause there’s a temptation to defer, a temptation to overthink every possession.” The U.S. eventually fixed that issue, outlasting Canada 86-72. Curry scored 24 points, on six-for-nine three-point shooting, a week later in Abu Dhabi during a 105-79 exhibition win against Serbia—which features three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in the middle. (Serbia and the U.S. square off in the Olympic opener for both teams on July 28, in Lille, France, north of Paris; the U.S. eked past South Sudan 101-100 and Germany 92-88 in its final two pre-Olympic tune-ups.)

Curry's performance against Serbia gave fans a taste of what’s to come at the Olympics. A gold medal, Curry says, “would mean everything.” If the U.S. prevails in the basketball final on Aug. 10 in Paris, the cameras are sure to pan on Curry, more than any other Olympian, on the podium. It will be his moment. Well-earned.

Write to Sean Gregory at sean.gregory@time.com .