NBA stars from around the world have come together at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with one common goal: to win gold.
With a 98-87 win over France on Saturday at Bercy Arena, the U.S. team did just that.
However, the formation of the Avengers basketball team took place long before the Paris Olympics.
Speaking to reporters after Team USA’s win on Saturday, Kevin Durant shared when he decided to compete in his fourth Olympics and who ultimately pushed him to do so.
“I knew” [while playing for the Brooklyn Nets in the 2022-23] “The season,” Durant said (quoted from Sam Amick of The Athletic” ).”[Team USA managing director] Grant [Hill] and [coach] Steve [Kerr]“They came to Brooklyn, and they tried to convince me to play in the World Cup, so I knew how important it was for us to be there in 2024, and I kind of committed there.”
“Last summer, [LeBron James] He started texting everyone, giving his opinion on who we thought should be on the team, and [asking] If everyone is playing, when we start sending those [kinds of] When I sent the texts, I knew we were all going to get together and it was a special time.
For the first time in five years, Durant met up with former Warriors teammate Steph Curry, who competed in his first Olympics this summer.
“I knew Steph was going to play,” Durant said. “He had never been on an Olympic team before. He had won a world championship but he wanted to win an Olympic medal. So it was easy, especially when those two guys committed, and once we built the team, I knew it was going to be special.”
Curry, still feeling the taste of victory, was initially considering playing for the U.S. national team in 2024 just moments after winning his last championship with the Warriors two years ago.
“In 2022, when we were on our way back from Boston, I made a joke [with Kerr] “About how that’s the one thing I didn’t do, and I just stuck to it there,” Curry explained.[Then] Last September, I watched the World Cup and realized this was something I hadn’t done. I felt healthy, I was able to do it, so this was something I wanted to do. K said the same thing. The text messages started flying in.
Saturday’s win, and the gold medal that came with it, was not only the culmination of weeks of hard work and dedication throughout the offseason, but also the culmination of years of discussions and preparation for what could be the final Olympic appearances for three of the NBA’s most famous players.
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