An intense gold medal game on Saturday night came down to the final minutes, but a star-studded Team USA defeated Victor Wembanyama and France at Bercy Arena to claim its fifth consecutive Olympic gold.
The 98-87 win at Paris’ Bercy Arena completed a perfect Summer Olympics for LeBron James and company, which had been expected to win the gold medal but needed a huge comeback against Serbia just to reach the final. A late barrage of 3-pointers from Steph Curry ended up providing the difference against the host nation, with the win prompting another memorable comment from unofficial “team leader” LeBron.
Whereas Michael Jordan led the 1992 “Dream Team” at the Barcelona Summer Olympics, and Kobe Bryant was the captain of the 2008 “Redeem Team” that claimed gold at the Beijing Games 16 years later, LeBron’s moniker for the gold medal-winning 2024 Olympic team has a more “heroic” touch.
LeBron, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and a three-time gold medallist — has dubbed this iteration of Team USA as “The Avengers,” validating fans on social media who had assigned the team that moniker after realizing it would be the first time that LeBron, Curry, and Kevin Durant would be on the same squad.
At 39 years old, the gold medal game against France will probably stand as LeBron’s final Olympic outing. And after helping to oust Serbia with a semifinal triple-double, LeBron scored 14 points while providing 10 assists and hauling in six rebounds against France to cap an unforgettable run in Paris.
