USA v France: Olympic men’s basketball final – live updates | Paris Olympic Games 2024
Key events
Who’s who
FRANCE
The veterans are captain and small forward Nicolas Batum (age 35, Philadelphia), point guard Andrew Albicy (34, Herbalife Gran Canaira/ESP), center Rudy Gobert (32, Minnesota) and shooting guard Nando de Colo (37, LDLC ASVEL/FRA).
Other NBA players: Wembanyana (San Antonio), Evan Fournier (Detroit), Bilal Coulibaly (Washington). The latter is the youngest on the team at age 19.
USA
LeBron James (L.A. Lakers) is 39, and it doesn’t show. Stephen Curry, the captain, is 36. Kevin Durant (Phoenix) is 35, Jrue Holiday (Boston) is 34, and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia) and Derrick White (Boston) are both 30.
Coach Steve Kerr has controversially kept Jayson Tatum (Boston) on the bench for a lot of the tournament. Tyrese Halliburton (Indiana) also has seen scant playing time.
Points James 14.2 Edwards 13.8 Durant 13.6 Curry 13.0 Embiid 13.0
Assists James 8.2 (second) Holiday 3.5 Booker 3.4
Rebounds James 7.0 Davis 6.2 Tatum 6.0 (in limited playing time)
Blocks Embiid 1.3 (sixth)
Turnovers James 3.8 (fourth)
3-pointers Curry 2.8 (seventh) Durant 2.2 Booker 2.2
Preamble
We all wanted this final, didn’t we?
The star-studded US team, with a few veterans going for one more round at the Olympics. Then a very talented French team, with perhaps the best young player in the world in Victor Wembanyama, playing in front of a lively home crowd.
And both teams have shown plenty of resilience in getting to this stage, so if one team happens to take a double-digit lead, there’s no reason to think the game is over.
Welcome to one of the most-anticipated events of these Games, with good reason.
Victor Wembanyama exhorts his team during the semi-final against Germany. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Beau will be with your shortly. In the meantime, here’s Bryan Graham on the hostile atmosphere that will greet the US as they face the host nation:
The Americans understand that France will pose a far different challenge amid a uniquely hostile environment inside the cauldron-like Bercy Arena, where the hosts will look to become the first side to win men’s basketball gold on home soil since the United States in 1996. Surely it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the curious Victor Wembanyama, who in one night could not only join Léon Marchand, Teddy Riner, Antoine Dupont and the Brothers Lebrun as emblems of the Paris Olympics, but encroach the broader folk-hero pantheon of Cerdan, Hinault, Killy and Zidane by toppling the 17-time Olympic champions on the eve of the closing ceremony.
“We’re expecting them to play the game of their life,” Steph Curry, an Olympic debutant, said. “They’re going to have the home-court adrenaline, they’re riding a big momentum after these last two games. We’ve got to expect them to play great, but we expect that from ourselves as well.”
