The Team USA Basketball Men’s National Team officially claimed the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday, giving the program five straight gold medals spanning back to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Team USA won 98-87 over the French National Team in the gold medal match, thanks to impressive outings from guard Stephen Curry and forward Lebron James.
The Americans took a slight lead following a back-and-forth first quarter that included six different lead changes, entering the second quarter with a 20-15 advantage over the French.
Team USA struggled to pull away from a France team that was making all the right shots at the right time, but a late surge helped the Americans take a 49-41 lead going into halftime.
Despite struggling at times during the first half, Team USA grew their lead in the second half and led the French 98-87 at the beginning of the final quarter.
The French were able to close the gap to six points with just under one minute remaining in the game, but a three-point bucket from the greatest shooter of all time ended France’s hopes of a comeback as Curry hit a deep jump shot over two defenders.
Curry once again led the team in points after scoring 24 points in under 30 minutes of action, including 11 points in the fourth quarter, while James contributed 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists.
On the other side of the ball, the French were led by center Victory Wembanyama, who led all scorers with 26 points while also collecting 7 rebounds in less than 30 minutes of game time.
The Olympic committee recognized both James and Curry for their performances during the Olympic games, as James won the MVP award and Curry was named to the All-Star Five team.
This All-Star Five included James and Curry alongside Wembanyama, Germany’s Dennis Schroder, and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of Serbia.
James said that following the win, Team USA was glad it got to face off against France while playing in Paris, explaining that the team “wouldn’t have wanted it any other way than to face off against the host team.”
“I’m just living in the moment,” he said, per USAB.com.
“Super-humbled that I can still play this game, play it at a high level, play with 11 other great players, with a great coaching staff and to go do it for our country was a great moment.”
Head Coach Steve Kerr credited the players’ performances for carrying the team through Olympic play, saying that they had the “most incredible group of players” who were able to come together and accomplish something special.
“They were all so unselfish throughout this whole thing, through all the noise, all the pressure. I think we might be the only team in the world whose fans are ashamed of them if they get a silver medal, you know? And that’s the pressure that we face. But our players, and you saw Steph, they love the pressure. They appreciate this atmosphere, and they were fantastic,” he said, per USAB.com.
This win continued a nearly century-old tradition of incredible Olympic play from Team USA. The Americans have won a gold medal in 17 out of the 21 games that they have participated in.
While these games were an amazing opportunity for some of the best basketball players in the world to team up, they will now begin looking ahead to the beginning of the 2024-25 NBA season in just a few months.