2024 Paris Olympic Games: Live coverage from day 15
Future Hall of Famers LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant look set to retire from Olympic hoops with a gold medal, but America’s stranglehold on the sport faces its biggest test.
Future Hall of Famer LeBron James has all but confirmed his international retirement after steering Team USA to a fifth straight gold medal with a thrilling win over France.
James donned gold boots for the big game and he marked the occasion with a gold standard performance.
The ‘King’ finished with 14 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in what is expected to be his farewell following four Olympic appearances.
James, who turns 40 in December, has made a career of defying the odds but he is being realistic about his international future.
“I can’t see myself playing in Los Angeles 2028,” James said.
“I didn’t see myself playing in Paris 2024 too. But four years from now, I can’t see it.”
Curry put on a scoring show with 24 points, including eight of twelve from range.
The Golden State Warriors superstar sent a clear message to the world that he’ll be forever remembered as basketball’s greatest ever shooter.
Team’s USA’s leading scorer Kevin Durant showcased his usual scoring prowess with 15 points.
Durant left the door open to play again in LA in 2028.
“Regarding LA, who knows, man? We’ll see,” Durant said.
“My goal was always to represent my country, my state, my street, my family name. And help to push the game forward. Since I’ve been there, I’ve done that. We’ve built on the 1992 Dream Team, and I’m glad we managed to carry it over.”
It comes as America’s stranglehold on the international stage faces a big test on home soil in LA in 2028.
Steve Kerr’s men won every game to finish on top of the podium in Paris, but the 2024 crop will forever be in the shadow of Michael Jordan’s 1992 Dream Team.
In fact, they aren’t even as good as the Redeem Team from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Jordan’s original Dream Team at the ’92 Barcelona Games had an average winning margin of a whopping 43.8 points as the likes of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley went undefeated to claim gold.
It’s a record that doesn’t look like it will be broken, especially when you consider how much world basketball has improved.
Most countries have NBA players, meaning the gap between America and the rest is rapidly reducing and it has shown in recent Olympic campaigns.
The ’08 Redeem Team’s averaging winning margin was 27.8 – 16 points less than the original Dream Team from 92.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Americans lost their opening game to France before going on to win the final against the French by just seven points.
The days of America belting every team by big margins are long gone.
This was on display in the Paris Olympic semi-final against a strong Serbia side.
The Serbians led the Americans by 17 points before James, Curry and Durant flicked a switch in the fourth quarter to surge home and win.
America will always be strong with a direct line to the NBA and a strong college and high school system, but the rest of the world is catching up.
The NBA’s leading players in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic all hail from overseas.
The Americans will rely on Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker in LA in four years, but they won’t have the generational guns to lean on like they did in Paris.
It will be a changing of the guard for Team USA.
With James, Durant and Curry retiring from international hoops, could the Americans be vulnerable in Los Angeles in 2028?
The rise of FIBA basketball suggests yes.
A French side loaded up with multiple No.1 NBA picks will be a threat for years, Serbia is rock solid and Germany always produces on the Olympic stage.
NBA superstars like Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Doncic and Victor Wembanyama will all be available to play again in LA in four years’ time.
Watch your back, America, the world is coming for you.
Relive all the action from day 15 of the Paris Olympics with our blog below
Originally published as 2024 Paris Olympic Games: Live coverage from day 15
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