Culture Corner

On Saturday night, the final game of the Olympic’s men’s basketball took place, seeing the United States go up against the French giants, Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert and company.

Team USA had a fairly smooth route to the finals, putting away the NBA’s MVP, Nikola Jokic, and his Serbia team twice, along with South Sudan, Puerto Rico and Brazil all being defeated by the self proclaimed ‘Avengers’ before the they met France in the finals.

After a close 101-100 point game against South Sudan in an exhibition game that took place just before the olympics, it was uncertain if the USA were going to be the dominant team that was expected from them, but after a comfortable 103-86 victory over South Sudan in the group stages, it looked as though the US had shaken off their nerves, and were ready to go for gold, as after 4 straight gold medals within the last 4 olympics, this team were not ready to let the streak end.

Kevin Durant made history after taking home his 4th gold medal, making him the only male basketball player with 4 gold medals to his name. The former Warrior was paired up with his old teammate and 4 time NBA champion Stephen Curry, who sealed the deal with a 3-point masterclass in the 4th quarter, breaking away from a 4 point game, finishing the game with a score of 98-87 in favour of the US. Curry made a superb 8 of 12 3-pointers, to finish the game with 24 points, whilst Durant was the joint-second leading scorer, along with current teammate of the Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker, both putting up 15 points.

‘The King’, LeBron James, finished the game with 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists, securing his spot as the Paris 2024 Men’s Basketball Olympic MVP, adding to his already enormous résumé. It is unclear whether LeBron will compete in the 2028 Olympics, being held in Los Angeles, California, as retirement rumours have been circling the 39-year-old more so than ever. First though, he is waiting to play with his son, Bronny James, in the NBA this coming season.

However unclear it is for the future of soon to be hall-of-famers in the national squad, it is still in good hands. Youngsters like Anthony Edwards, who played limited minutes but performed incredibly when he was on the court, looked to be a bright candidate for a future leader of Team USA. Other young talents like Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum are sure to help the team to more medals in future years.

France’s most dominant player, and NBA rookie, Victor Wembanyama, tried his very best to stop the US at the final hurdle, but unfortunately couldn’t do enough. Wembanyama finished with 26 points, but it wasn’t enough to come back from the storm of 3-pointers from team USA. The future is undeniably bright for the NBA’s rookie of the year, who could be a force to be reckoned with on a national level, once talents like Curry, James, and Durant lace up for the last time.

Paris 2024 was an exciting time to be a basketball fan, and hopefully the upcoming NBA season will deliver just as much, kicking off October 22.