PARIS — The Canadians might think this was their fault, but it was not. Ditto for the Germans and Serbians. When the previous version of Team USA fell short at the FIBA World Cup last summer, taking fourth behind all three of those countries in a finish that put America’s status as the global basketball leader in jeopardy yet again, the timing of the next day’s headline was quite curious.
Advertisement LeBron James , as The Athletic reported just one day after the Canadians beat Team USA in the bronze medal game , was ready to commit for the Paris Olympics in 2024. And he was planning on bringing quite a few of his NBA superstar friends along with him. The American hoops Avengers, featuring James, Steph Curry , Kevin Durant and so many more elites, were being formed.
But this marvelous collection of all-time greats, the one that survived Serbia in the semifinal and then won the program’s fifth consecutive gold medal by downing France 98-87 on Saturday night, was coming together regardless of what happened 11 months ago because, well, time demanded it. James is 39. Curry is 36.
Durant is 35. And all of them — somehow, someway — are still simply incredible at playing this game. This chance to create late-career memories for the ages, with all of them setting aside the rivalries and relationship imperfections between them that might have existed in the past, was the kind of thing that all of them saw coming long before James reached for his Captain America shield.
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