Winners, losers from Olympic men’s hoops: Steph, LeBron dazzle

PARIS — Steph Curry had a nondescript start to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
His finish to the Summer Games was almost beyond description.
Curry punctuated a slow start to his first Olympics with an incredible ending – scoring a combined 60 points in the semifinals and final and making 17-of-26 3-pointers as the U.S. won its fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s 5×5 basketball with a 98-87 victory against France on Saturday.
It’s unlikely Curry plays in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and he made the most of his opportunity.
He wasn’t the only one who took advantage – and some failed to take advantage.
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Here are the winners and losers from the 2024 Paris Olympics in the men’s 5×5 basketball event:
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He had 36 points, including 9-of-14 shooting on 3s against Serbia in the semifinals, and had 24 points on 8-fof-12 shooting against France in the gold-medal game. His flurry of four 3s in the final 2:47, including a vintage Curry fadeaway 3 with two French defenders on him with 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter, was the coup de grace. It will go down as one of the best performances in Olympics basketball history.
The men won their fifth consecutive gold medal. Even as other countries narrow the gap, when the U.S. sends its best players, it remains the team to beat. It will be even more difficult to in 2028, and USA Basketball men’s managing director Grant Hill has work to do to ensure the U.S. remains atop the FIBA basketball world.
France entered this event with huge expectations. It is producing top talent, including Victor Wembanyama and the top two picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, and it needed a result on the court in Paris. France was on verge of imploding after group play but rebounded for quality victories against Canada and Germany. Anything short of a medal would’ve been a huge disappointment, and a silver medal prevented that from happening.
With three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, Serbia has established itself as a medal contender in any event. It won silver at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and earned bronze at the Paris Games. It also collected silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
James was named MVP of the event, and he proved at 39 years old he is still among the best in the world. He was masterful as a playmaker and defender. He had a 16-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist triple-double against Serbia in the semifinals and produced 14 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and two steals against France in the final for his third gold medal.
Durant became the first men’s basketball player to win four gold medals, and he will go down as one of the greatest basketball Olympians of all-time. He has 518 career Olympic points – seventh on the all-time list. No American player – male or female – has more points, and he is the U.S. men’s all-time leading rebounder.
Canada sent to the Olympics its best team, featuring several quality NBA players, including All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. A podium finish was expected. It didn’t make it out of the quarterfinals and finished fifth after winning bronze at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Germany has never medaled in men’s 5×5 basketball at the Olympics. After winning the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Germany had the experience and continuity to medal in Paris. After an impressive performance in group play and a quarterfinals victory, it lost to France in the semifinals and Serbia in the bronze-medal game. Germany has made significant strides as a basketball nation, but this finish was a letdown.
Australia had a 24-point lead against Serbia in the quarterfinals and lost. It won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and was in position to compete for another medal this year.
Jokic had a great tournament. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hear about his experience from him. He went the entire Olympics without stopping in the mixed zone to talk to reporters. He established from the start he wasn’t interested in doing media. It’s too bad one of the world’s greatest players wasn’t accommodating at least once. We know that’s his least favorite part of being a star, but contrast that to the availability of LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant at the Olympics. Even Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke to reporters once.
Spain has work to do if it wants to rejoin the medal contenders. Spain finished 10th, and its golden era of the Gasol brothers (Pau, Marc) and Ricky Rubio is in the rearview mirror. It hasn’t kept up with other countries such as Germany, Serbia, France, Canada and Australia. Argentina got left behind after winning gold in 2004 and bronze in 2008. It hasn’t medaled since and did not qualify for Paris. Spain medaled in 2008 (silver), 2012 (silver) and 2016 (bronze) but didn’t medal in the next two Games.