Paris Olympics: USA men’s basketball still kings of the court with gold medal win over France

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PARIS — The French wouldn’t fade. They wouldn’t fold. They took every bodyblow and dagger dunk the Americans could throw at them and yet there they still were, pushing and pushing, cutting the lead to three.

This was the gold medal game of the Olympics and the U.S., despite its roster full of stars and MVPs and future Hall of Famers, needed someone to finally shut this down.

Someone like Stephen Curry, who amidst this cauldron of chaos and emotion stepped up and knocked down a three.

Then another.

Then another.

Then, well, another, only this one was so absurdly arced that it just took the air out of all of Paris.

“At that point, your mind goes blank,” Curry said of the kill shot with 35 seconds remaining. “You don’t really care about the setting or the scenario or anything. It’s just a shot.”

It was more than just a shot. It was arguably the greatest shot in Olympic history to lead the US to a 98-87 victory … and a gold medal.

The Americans’ golden generation stars — namely 36-year-old Curry — delivered a fifth consecutive gold medal by scoring 12 of his 24 points in the final three minutes of the championship game.

He was aided by 39-year-old LeBron James, who played another brilliant all-around game, finishing with 14 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, a steal and a block.

When the game is on the line, there still isn’t anyone better than those two. And when you need someone to hit a clutch basket, well, there was no doubt.

“He’s the best shooter to ever live,” teammate Devin Booker said.”We’ve seen it before. Got a hot player, you’ve got to keep finding him.”

This was Curry’s first foray into the Olympics and it ended perfectly. While he struggled to find his shot early in this tournament, the Americans wouldn’t have survived Serbia in the semis or potentially hold off the French in the finals without him.

“It wasn’t easy, but damn, I’m excited man,” Curry said after. “This is everything that I wanted it to be and more.”

The world may be catching up to the United States in men’s basketball but it hasn’t gotten all the way there yet.

The French fought and fought and fought. They played physical. They played confident. They wouldn’t fold or fade. Yet every time they would trim the American lead to six or eight, there was another U.S. star ready to make a play.

A Kevin Durant three. An Anthony Davis dunk. Another bit of LeBron James magic. And Steph Curry from deep, over and over and over and over again.

It was too much, even with Victor Wembanyama pouring in a game-high 26.

Throughout these Olympics coach Steve Kerr kept citing the Americans’ superior depth as a deciding factor.

“Every team has great players,” Kerr said. “We have more of them.”

It proved true in the final, the U.S. might was eventually able to wear the French down. Kerr was able to constantly throw NBA all-stars at the French or watch an offensive set find its way to the fourth option … who just happened to be Booker wide open for a 3-pointer.

Anytime a lineup wasn’t working or a player hit even a brief dry spell, someone else rolled in. And the defensive intensity was constant, with near all-out effort on nearly every possession, forcing France into poor shooting early, especially from behind.

One day another country is going to beat the United States again. Perhaps it will be France as Wembanyama continues to develop as an elite player.

He’s just 19 years old, but the 7-foot-4 Frenchman proved neither the competition nor the stage was too much for him. He was brilliant throughout, hitting threes, dishing assists and disrupting shot attempts. Mostly he never backed down against an onslaught of older, more established American stars.

His potential remains enormous, maybe even higher now than ever.

But not tonight, Steph Curry said. Not yet.