Three of the most-talented basketball players of this generation, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, were the heart and soul of Team USA. Any and all awards have been won by this trio. The only thing missing for Curry though was a gold medal hanging around his neck. LeBron and KD have had their signature Olympic moments and already made their mark on USA basketball. Steph, until now, hadn’t been apart of an Olympic team, mostly though injury. Getting him a gold was one of the motivating factors for the group.

Team USA beat France 98-87 to secure their 5th gold medal in a row. Steph Curry was, again, the driving force behind the US win. After exploding for 36 points in the semifinals, he went for 24 points on 8-13 FG’s (8-12 3-pt) including a stretch in the 4th where he was the whole US offense, trading 3’s with France and nailing a crucial one over Victor Wembanyama to seal the game. LeBron James and Kevin Durant were also instrumental in victory.

KD didn’t shoot well, 14 points on 5-12 FG’s (3-9 3-pt), but used his length to bother many French shots, grabbed a handful of rebounds and dished out 4 assists including a spectacular alley-oop to Anthony Edwards.

LeBron’s versatility shone through with another stat-stuffing performance. This time going for 14 points on 6-10 FG’s (1-2 3-pt), 10 assists, 6 rebounds, a couple of steals and a block. He was also involved in a few highlight plays too, like a behind-the-back pass to Devin Booker, for an easy layup and an and-1 that had the whole USA bench up and flexing.

From the opening tip, Victor Wembanyama went at the US. He showed no fearing going right at the lightning rod that is Joel Embiid, and scoring on him early and often, leading to Embiid’s pseudo-benching. Unfortunately for France, he (26 points) and Guerschon Yabusele (20 points) were the only guys scoring. The other 3 starters, Nicolas Batum, Frank Ntilikina and Isaïa Cordinier, combined for 5 total points. Evan Fournier was also ice cold, only scoring 8 points on 3-10 FG’s (2-8 3-pt). Their 3-point shooting really let them down (9-30). Overall, it wasn’t their best effort with the US delivering one of their better defensive performances.

Anthony Davis’ switchability, defensive IQ, capacity to move his feet and shot-blocking nature were central to the USA’s defensive effort. He also out-maneuvered the French front-line, a handful of time, to grab an offensive rebound and lay it up. It’s lucky he stepped up because Joel Embiid was a disaster.

It began in the first quarter when Wemby was torching Embiid and he let it affect his rebounding effort. A couple of times he had an opportunity to go after a board, but choose not to. Quite alarming since this was the gold medal game and every possession counted. Thankfully, Steve Kerr recognized the lack of effort, benched him and used him very sparingly for the rest of the game, outside of a small stint to start the 2nd half.

The third big-man, Bam Adebayo, had one massive dunk, but was relatively quiet.

Devin Booker was the US’s best player in the first half, scoring 13 points and nailing a pair of 3’s. Throughout the games, he didn’t needed to score in bunches, but his spacing, ball-handling, rebounding and defense were imperative to the team’s success. Dwayne Wade said on the broadcast he was playing the “Carmelo Anthony” role, which is the ultimate compliment.

Jrue Holiday and Derrick White have been asked to do similar things, while playing a similar role; provide 3-point shooting, disruptive perimeter defense, rebound, play-making and handling the ball, among other things. With this redundancy though, only one of them was able to play against France. It ended up being Jrue, who went on to score 6 points, drop 4 assists and play solid defense. White and Tyrese Haliburton ended up not playing.

The curious case of Jayson Tatum took another twist after he didn’t play against Serbia and his mom took to Twitter/X to sound off. She quote tweeted Dick Vitale, who himself questioned if Tatum was hurt after riding the pine so often, saying, “No he not. But if you find out what’s going on please let me know – unacceptable and makes NO SENSE.” This external pressure forced Steve Kerr to make sure JT saw the court. He went on to score a bucket and grab a couple of rebounds in 11 minutes of action.

All of Anthony Edwards’ 8 point were highlight’s. He hit a couple of razzle dazzle type of 3’s in the first half, and had a special alley-oop from KD in the 2nd half. Other than those 3 shots, he was a bit cold, and only played 10 minutes. Although, his defensive effort was much better than the previous game. It’ll be interesting to see how the Olympic experience affects his growth and maturity.

Even with the rotation issues, Joel Embiid’s uneven effectiveness, Steph Curry’s early shooting woes, Kevin Durant’s unknown injury status prior to the Olympics and Jayson Tatum’s lack of a steady role and minutes Steve Kerr was able to guide Team USA to an undefeated record in Paris, capped by the team’s 5th straight gold medal. A remarkable achievement for the USA, that may never be topped in Olympic basketball history.

In 2028, Team USA will look much different, as LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant will not be apart of the roster. Those 3 have done just about as much as anyone in inspiring the next generation and growing the game of basketball. The day they are all retired will be a sad one. For now, as they wind down their careers, we can only thank, praise and admire them for their contributions to the game we love.