basketball competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Turning in an all-around performance en route to his third gold medal, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer led Team USA in assists (51) and rebounds (41). Finishing second on the team in scoring to Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, James truly did it all for Team USA.
While James’ numbers were MVP-caliber, some have argued the award should have gone to Curry for his performance in the semifinals and gold medal game.
After scoring 36 points to help defeat Serbia in the semifinals, Curry added 24 points in the gold medal game against France.
These comments from Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless are two viral examples of an opinion shared by many. While James had the better overall numbers, Curry was Team USA’s leading scorer in its two biggest games.
Adding fuel to this conversation, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revealed MVP voting opened during the semifinals.
“I was told that it’s media voting, which the media could vote on.” Windhorst said. “There was a QR code allegedly on the wall. … They opened the voting like two days before the end, like during the semifinals. I was like, ‘Why would you vote now?'”
The Olympics have been facing backlash for this decision; fans have the same question Windhorst had about voting being opened so early.
It is worth noting that while the Olympics have faced backlash from fans over their handling of this award, many believe James would have still won MVP if voting opened after the gold medal game.
Here is how Curry and James lined up for the entire tournament:
Curry: 89 points, 19 rebounds, 15 assists, 50/48/100 shooting splits, plus-86 plus/minus
James: 85 points, 41 rebounds, 51 assists, 66/31/73 shooting splits, plus-84 plus/minus
