The men’s basketball gold went to the United States, as expected. Among the sport’s greats, Stephen Curry won his first Olympic gold, LeBron James’ gold medal was his third.
The United States once again celebrates Olympic gold in men’s basketball. The victory did not come for free, as France did not give up in front of the home crowd. The final scores were 98–87 (20–15, 29–26, 23–25, 26–21).
The United States has now won 17 gold medals in men’s basketball. France has never won gold. The silver medal was the country’s fourth in its history.
Since NBA players have been allowed to participate in Olympic basketball, the United States has missed out on a gold medal only once. This is what happened in Athens in 2004, when Argentina celebrated gold. At that time, the United States was left with bronze.
of the United States Kevin Durant made basketball history in the final game. Durant, 35, won his fourth Olympic gold (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024) in his fourth Olympic tournament. Although the United States has dominated Olympic basketball, no male player from the country has won four Olympic gold medals.
The achievement reflects Durant’s long career as much as his ability to adapt to national team basketball. Durant has never lost a final game for the national team. In addition to the Olympic golds, he has celebrated the world championship in 2010.
Remember the absolute superstars of the sport Stephen Curry won Olympic gold only for the first time in his career. For LeBron James the gold medal was already the third.
The United States was coached to gold by the champion coach of the Golden State Warriors Steve Kerrwho was in the Tokyo team as an assistant coach.
This is how the final went: Curry’s unfathomable finish
The final in Paris was the latest from the previous Olympics. In Tokyo, France bowed to the United States by seven points. At that time, the two countries also met in the initial group, when France was able to defeat the NBA superstars.
Both countries made it to this time’s final by beating their opponents in the semifinals by just four points. The United States eventually defeated Serbia, who won the bronze, while France defeated Germany.
The United States made a change to the starting lineup with Durant taking a spot in the starting five. The reason was clear: Durant had scored at least 29 points in his previous three Olympic finals.
However, the star of the beginning of the match was France’s 20-year-old superstar Victor Wembanyama. The 224-centimeter high prospect scored seven points at a fast pace in the opening quarter. The number one reservation for the summer of 2023 was already the best scorer of the French tournament before the final.
However, the USA led the match after the opening quarter 20–15. France entered the second quarter strongly and the team took the lead after less than three minutes of play. The USA then took a timeout, but Wembanyama stylishly stopped LeBron James on the defensive end and France maintained the lead.
The most delicious duel of the match was between sports legend James and France Guerschon Yabusele between. Yabusele, who plays for Real Madrid, once cheekily dunked the basket towards James. Yabusele bagged 15 points by the break.
The problem for France, however, was the throws from behind the three-point arc. When the throws didn’t sink, the US was able to get back on top of the game when Devin Booker and Stephen Curry put the star bunch back in the lead with their triples.
The U.S. looked to be pulling away in the second quarter, but France battled back from double-digit deficits. The points in the third quarter finally went to France and the difference was only six points before the final ten.
In the final decade, the United States was able to control its lead. As soon as France had successes, the United States was able to strike back.
A good example was seen with just under three minutes left in the game. Wembanyama scored for France after a great fight and the hosts went five points ahead. But on the very next attack, Curry sank a huge three-pointer and gave the USA room to breathe.
The end of Curry’s game was incredible: just over a minute before the end, Curry sank three threes in a row. The latter two of these came immediately after the three scored by France.
Curry ended up scoring 24 points and was the best scorer of the match. Curry already scored 36 points in the semi-final against Serbia.