MIES (Suisse) – Kevin Durant, LeBron James et Stephen Curry.
In the NBA, they are the best players on their teams.
Their place in the Hall of Fame is assured. They are the most dominant Basketball players of the last 15 years.
Season after season, they put up a formidable fight in the NBA.
But last summer, as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Tournament, the three star players honored Alexandre Dumas and his famous “one for all and all for one” from The Three Musketeers, uniting their talents to carry the USA towards the top of the podium.
Durant and James expressing their joy at the Paris 2024 Olympics
“You obviously want to rub shoulders with the best players, the greatest minds, people who simply love basketball. Team USA has always given us this opportunity. Being around some of the best basketball players in history, seeing the way they work, the way they prepare, it gives you a better understanding of how they became what they are – legends.”this James.
Only in the national team can the best players of a country wear the same jersey and fight side by side.
Only international basketball can offer such a legendary trio the opportunity to live an experience like this, one that they will savor for the rest of their lives.
“We all strive to advance the game of basketball. Being able to play at this level with these guys gives me immense joy.” comments Durant.
“It’s a unique experience to have the opportunity to talk about basketball, about life, just between us. It’s a career-defining moment, it’s great.”adds Curry.
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International basketball allows the best players from a country to come together. Argentina was a remarkable example in 2004, when led by Emanuel Ginobili and Luis Scola, they won the gold medal at the Athens Olympics.
Under the leadership of Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro, Spain won the world title in 2006 in Japan, Slovenia took advantage of the genius of Goran Dragic and Luka Doncic to win the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 in Istanbul, and Spain repeated its feat in the FIBA World Cup in 2019, this time led by Ricky Rubio, Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez.
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“You obviously want to rub shoulders with the best players, the greatest minds, people who simply love basketball. Team USA has always given us this opportunity. »
We also saw it in 2023, when Dennis Schröder, Andreas Obst and brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner joined forces to win the world title and lift the Naismith Trophy in Manila.
Only international basketball is capable of producing moments like this.
Durant, James and Curry will no doubt agree that the 2024 Olympics were spectacular from start to finish.
Thanks to Curry and James, the USA finally took over Serbia in the semi-finals
The Opening Ceremony, organized on the banks of the Seine, allowed the three famous players to soak up the beauty and history of the city of Paris while passing near Notre-Dame, the Louvres, the Trocadero and of the Eiffel Tower.
On the field, their combined efforts helped the USA emerge victorious from the toughest Olympic Tournament in the history of the Olympic Games.
James was simply remarkable, winning the MVP title. Curry, present for the first time at the Olympics, joined him in the “All-Star Five” thanks to a brilliant end to the competition, with a 17 out of 26 (65.4%) from three points over the last two games. He totaled 36 points in the stunning victory against Serbia in the semi-finals (95-91), then 24 in the final against France (98-87). He notably converted his last four attempts from long distance during the final 3 minutes of the gold medal match.
This was THE shot of his career
The prospect of crossing paths with Serbia and the emblematic Nikola Jokic, as well as France and its nugget Victor Wembanyama, was enough to cause insomnia.
But being able to count on the presence of Durant, the most influential American of the last two Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, and Curry, James had no problem getting to sleep before the last two games of the competition.
“You can only savor these kinds of moments of serenity, when you know that with teammates like this, nothing can happen to you. »
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