Curry helps US men past France to fifth straight Olympic gold medal

PARIS — America’s recurring dream continues.

As James Brown’s “Living in America” ​​blared over the speakers at the Bercy Arena, several of the NBA’s greatest ever players from the US wrapped themselves in their country’s flag and celebrated their 98-87 victory over France on Saturday.

Two of them were born in the same hospital in Akron, Ohio, three years apart. Another was born in Washington, D.C., others in Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis. One in Cameroon. From sea to sea, they competed in Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi and London, in an open-air soccer stadium just outside Lille, France, and in Paris. And they were a team America could cheer for — a team that was both dominant and tested, and ultimately triumphed over a world that has never been better at this game than it is today.

“We had our moment,” said LeBron James, 39, the second-oldest player at the Olympics, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and now the 2024 Olympic MVP. “It’s a basketball world. Everyone loves the game. We just hope we continue to inspire people around the world.”

That’s five consecutive gold medals for the U.S. men’s basketball team. And just as importantly, the Americans will be the reigning champions when the Olympics move to Los Angeles in four years.

Team USA has one of the most all-star casts the United States has ever sent to the Olympics, with 11 NBA All-Stars consistently compared to the 1992 “Dream Team.” On Saturday, Team USA made good on that promise by winning the toughest away game in U.S. history — against the reigning silver medalist in the nation’s capital, with kickoff set for 9:30 p.m. local time.

There’s nothing like a Saturday night in Paris, especially when the chain around your neck is a gold medal.

IT WAS ALWAYS GOLD.

The 🇺🇸 #USABMNT wins a 5th consecutive Olympic gold medal! photo.twitter.com/nYx0SBh0Ui

— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 10, 2024

Kevin Durant, already the US’s all-time leading scorer, is now the only male player ever to win four Olympic gold medals in basketball. He made his only start at the 2024 Olympics and finished with 15 points.

“For me, it was about helping to advance the sport on the big stage, helping to set the culture for USAB,” said Durant, who began winning gold medals in 2012 and has scored more than 500 Olympic points. “There are so many great players that play in this program that you don’t even think about who’s the best player? You just come out here and try to contribute as much as you can to the bigger picture.”

Steph Curry, in his first and perhaps only Olympics and a hero of the Americans’ narrow victory over Serbia to even reach the gold medal game, led the U.S. with 24 points. He made four crucial 3-pointers with three minutes to go, including the go-ahead shot with 33 seconds left in what would have been a bad shot for just about anyone on the planet but him, and finished the game with eight 3s.

Curry, who was born in the same hospital as James in Ohio, has made 17 3s in the last two games. When he began his late barrage Saturday, the French had pulled within three points before Curry let it go with 2:47 left.

“At that point, your mind is blank,” Curry said. “You don’t really care about the setting or the script or anything, it’s just a shot. Luckily, that shot went in, it calmed us down, and after that, it’s just rhythm and flow and trust and that’s it.”

Stephen Curry makes his iconic “Night Night” gesture after scoring a 3-pointer against France. (Photo by Damien Meyer/AFP via Getty)

James is now a three-time gold medalist, but this is his first since the 2012 Games. He wore a pair of shiny gold Nike high tops for this championship game and scored 14 points with 10 assists and six rebounds. He won MVP honors — voted on by the media and FIBA ​​officials — behind tournament averages of 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists.

Devin Booker, now a two-time gold medalist, scored 13 of his 15 points for the U.S. in the first half. He added six rebounds. Anthony Davis, also a two-time Olympic gold medalist, added eight points and nine rebounds.

“It’s hard to put into words — twice,” Booker said. “This experience was completely different than the first. I’m not taking anything away from that, but the atmosphere, Steph and LeBron joining us, this experience is unlike any other experience in my life.”

“THE GOLDEN DAGGER!”

Steph Curry, that is absolutely ridiculous. 🤯#Olympic Games in Paris | 📺 NBC and Peacock photo.twitter.com/8hIN8tgmfK

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024

Reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, who grew up near Paris, was stellar with 26 points and seven rebounds. Former Boston Celtic Guerschon Yabusele added 20 points.

France is still looking for its first gold medal in basketball, but for now it can count on Wemby, Bilal Coulibaly and the four Frenchmen drafted in the first round of the NBA last June.

“The U.S. is still the best team in the world,” said France captain Nicolas Batum, who scored five points in 25 minutes. “Maybe they will lose at some point, but that’s why we call them the Dream Team or the Avengers or whatever, but maybe it will happen someday.”

Team USA coach Steve Kerr had already said he would retire after the Olympics. He will do so as champion. The Americans defeated their Olympic opponents by a combined 114 points, although the 17-point deficit against Serbia and the three-point lead against France are true indicators of how tough the last two games were.

Five times, including the Olympic semifinal against Serbia, where a loss would have ruined everything, the U.S. was challenged in games until the final moments. Nothing like that ever happened to the Dream Team, but that was decades ago.

Basketball grew worldwide thanks to the exploits of Michael Jordan’s last Olympic team. And to survive the all-star tournament in Paris, an all-star cast of some of the greatest players ever was needed.

Keep that in mind as you consider where to rank this version of Team USA relative to the great teams that came before it. And consider what the next U.S. roster will look like four years from now, for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Team USA listens to the national anthem after accepting their gold medals. 🇺🇸 #Olympic Games in Paris photo.twitter.com/D14bJUgF0t

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024

“It’s everything I imagined and more, just the excitement of doing it with the guys in our locker room, we all signed up for the mission to continue the dominance of American basketball,” Curry said. “Obviously I understood it was going to be a really tough task with some great teams that we were going to go up against and there’s a sense of relief at the end, but it’s more of a sense of accomplishment knowing what we were able to do.”

Kerr made numerous changes to his lineup and rotation, starting Durant in place of Jrue Holiday and Jayson Tatum coming off the bench in place of Derrick White. Kerr also opted to use one of his three big men at a time, starting Joel Embiid but playing him for just five minutes in the first half.

The Embiid-France side story fizzled out as the drama on the court intensified with the rest of the players. Embiid, despite receiving his usual pre-game boos from the French crowd for choosing the U.S. over France for the Olympics, finished with four points in 11 minutes. Born in Cameroon but holding both U.S. and French passports, he could have been part of a French starting lineup alongside 7-footers Rudy Gobert and Wembanyama, but instead he won gold with the U.S.

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Bam Adebayo and Jrue Holiday are the other Americans to win gold for the second time in a row.

The Americans shot 18 of 36 from 3 and produced 10 steals — hanging their hat on their two main principles of defense and shooting. The French were able to keep the U.S. from playing faster, beating Canada and Germany in upsets to get to this point. The Americans also committed 17 turnovers, which Kerr attributed to France’s pressure on the ball — something Serbia and South Sudan have successfully pushed on the U.S. in recent weeks.

“There were several times where it felt like we were going to go from 10 to 15 and we were going to come to terms with it. We just couldn’t get there,” Kerr said.

Kerr planned to capitalize on his superior guard play, and ultimately it was Curry who made the difference. Curry scored just 28 points in the Americans’ first four Olympics, and Kerr dismissed that, saying the team’s focus was on defense.

But without Curry outplaying the Serbian and French defenses, the Americans might have left Paris without a medal, let alone gold. The last three Curry unleashed were over Batum and Evan Fournier, who surrounded him.

“Towards the end of the game, Steph took over,” Kerr said. “He suggested in the timeout, with about three minutes left, he said, ‘Let me do a clear side pick and roll with LeBron and we’ll spread the floor.’ I said, ‘OK, let’s do that because I’ve seen it before and it usually works out well.’

“And then he put on that show at the end of the game in the last few minutes and it was pretty amazing to watch.”

The same can be said of this team. The Avengers. The Last Dance for James, Durant and Curry on Team USA. A bridge to the next generation, led by players who were on the court Saturday, and perhaps others who watched on big screens in their beachside mansions.

In four years, it will be their turn to continue the dream in Los Angeles.

Required reading

(Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)