Topline
The loaded Team USA Men’s Basketball Team staved off what could have been a stunning upset to the Serbian men’s team in the semifinal round of the Paris Summer Olympics on Thursday, coming back late in the game after Serbia nearly sent home Team USA’s squad of NBA all stars who are predicted to win gold.
Steph Curry, Lebron James and Team USA nearly fell to Serbia, led by Denver Nuggets star center and … [+]
Key Facts
Team USA overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat Serbia 95-91, narrowly avoiding what would have been the first Olympics loss for the USA since the Athens games in 2004, when the U.S. men’s team took bronze.
Serbia was able to rely on Nikola Jokic, a three-time MVP (2021, 2022, 2024), and 2022 champion with the Denver Nuggets who put up 17 points in Serbia’s loss.
Team USA, led by Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Joel Embiid, were able to erase a 13-point deficit at the end of the third quarter, tying the game with less than four minutes left of play, and taking a one-point lead off a late three-pointer from Curry.
With just over a minute left to play, Team USA mustered its largest lead of the game off a pair of layups from James and Curry, before Durant sealed the deal with a late three-pointer.
Team USA will play France for the gold medal on Saturday, while Serbia will face Germany in the bronze medal match.
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Surprising Fact
Since the Barcelona 1992 summer Olympics, the U.S. men’s basketball team has won gold in every game, with the lone exception of 2004. The U.S. men’s team has been a dominating force in the Olympics since basketball was introduced in 1936, winning seven consecutive tournaments before the Soviet Union snapped that streak in 1972. The only other times the U.S. men’s team did not take home gold came in 1980, when Yugoslavia won (the U.S. did not place), 1988 (Soviet Union) and 2004 (Argentina). The U.S. women’s basketball team has also been a powerhouse, winning gold in every Olympics since 1996.
Tangent
James is the highest paid basketball player competing at the summer olympics from any competing country, raking in a whopping $128.8 million between May 2023 and May 2024 between his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers and off-court endorsement deals. James leads a group of NBA stars, such as Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo ($111 million) and James’ teammate Steph Curry ($102 million), and tops a group of professional tennis players including Serbia’s Novak Djokovic ($38.4 million) and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz ($31.4 million). But beating them all is Jon Rahm, the Spanish golf star who made $218 million over that time, according to Forbes.
Big Number
$37,500. That’s how much each gold medalist on Team USA will receive from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for the Paris games. Silver medalists will earn $22,500 and bronze medalists take home $15,000—well behind the prize money from other competing nations, including Singapore’s reported $737,000 for gold and Kazakhstan’s $250,000.
Further Reading
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