USWNT and US men’s basketball win gold in Paris
Mallory Swanson scored in the 57th minute to lead the USWNT to gold, while Steph Curry and company beat France on their home turf to win it all.
PARIS – LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant hug.
They celebrated, laughed and laughed. They confirmed the photo of them holding their gold medals.
The reason they hatched this plan to play in the Olympics together — three of the biggest American stars of the past two decades, future Hall of Famers, all-time greats — was for that moment.
2024 Paris Olympics Gold Medal Moment. To say that they did side by side.
It’s a modern-day version of Bird-Magic-Jordan’s 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and it’s only a matter of time before we see a collection of stars like this on the U.S. Olympic team.
“We got our moment and this is what we wanted,” James said.
The U.S. needed all three to defeat France 98-87 for its fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Playing in his first Olympics, Curry was sensational with 24 points — eight 3-pointers, including four 3s in the final 2:47 and the final one with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter to put the U.S. up 96-87 and bury France. . That performance followed a 36-point effort against Serbia in the semifinals.
James, 39, was the best all-around player in the Olympics and was named MVP after posting 14 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block against France.
Durant can make the hoop anywhere, anytime, and his 15 points helped secure the gold and make him the first player to win four Olympic gold medals in men’s basketball.
It’s very possible that the U.S. won’t win gold without one of those players on the roster this summer.
But they were undefeated in all three.
“Steph got it with his work ethic every day the last few weeks, the last two weeks,” Kerr said. “I tell people all the time that Kevin’s been with our team, my favorite part of coaching with the Warriors is that it’s not an accident that they’re able to do what they do down the stretch of games after watching those two work and practice. It’s really exciting to watch these two guys day in and day out.
“I talked about LeBron during this experience. When you see these guys behind the scenes, you see how hard they work, how much they love the process of work, how good they are.
France’s young superstar Victor Wembanyama had his best game of the Olympics with 26 points and seven rebounds. He was a handful for America, and the brief was clear. The stars crossed in Paris, the final light of three amazing careers and the brilliance of another that will shine on the NBA for at least the next decade.
But James, Curry and Durant aren’t ready to hand over the keys to Wembanayama just yet.
If you think the Olympics aren’t important to the millionaire NBA stars, you’re missing out on the U.S. in this event, especially in the semifinals against Serbia and the knockout stage against France in the gold medal game.
They are elite competitors, so they want to win in any competition. But they are proud to play for their country.
“It’s about representing your country the right way, and it’s a different kind of honor to be on that stage, to get your gold medal,” Curry said.
James said: “I just live now. “I can still play this game, play it at a high level, and play with 11 great players, great coaches, and then go out and do this for our country,” he said in a very humble way. It’s a great moment.”
Durant said: “My goal every time I put on this jersey is to represent my country, my state, my street, my family name and it helps put the game in perspective. Since I’ve been here, we’ve done that. We formed the Dream Team in ’92 and we carried that torch and that was the main goal.
This is important. They listen as Doug Collins shows them a picture of the abuse on his cell phone Controversial game against the Soviet Union in the 1972 Munich Olympics. They pay attention as Spencer Haywood talks about his experience 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
In 30, 40 years, they’ll want Olympians to know their stories.
We haven’t seen the last of LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.
We may have seen the last of them at the Olympics (who knows, with Durant, he may have played in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics).
But the Olympics proved they have a lot more to give.
They did not win gold alone. Nine other players contributed. You can do it below the list.
But to see James, Curry and Durant on the same team for the first and (probably) last time, and win the last two games for gold in Paris the way they did, is a beautiful tribute to what they gave to basketball, what basketball. He has given them.
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