LILLE (France) - USA's Stephen Curry has almost done everything there is to do in basketball.
NBA championships? Check. He's won four with the Golden State Warriors.
FIBA Basketball World Cup? Check. Curry has two of those (2010 and 2014).
The only success missing from Curry's glittering baskeball résumé is the Olympic gold medal. Come August 10, though, Curry, 36, may get a check for that one, too.
He's in France with a star-studded team that has other greats like LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
"The arc from the U19 World Cup in 2007, then the two World Cups in 2010 and 2014 and today, this is my first time playing in the Olympics, I'm blessed," Curry said at the USA's Olympic Media Day. "Playing with those guys, they are the top talent in the NBA."
Curry has good memories of his time in the USA jersey, starting with the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2007.
He traveled with the American team to one of the traditional hotbeds of world basketball, Serbia. It was a rewarding, eye-opening experience.
"That was my first experience with USA," Curry said.
"We landed in Belgrade, then Novi Sad in Serbia. It was a phenomenal experience until we lost in the championship game against the home team, Serbia."
The USA won their first eight games, but had close calls in three. They improved to 3-0 with an 82-78 victory over Serbia, 6-0 with an 87-82 victory over France and then 8-0 with a 78-75 triumph over the French again in the Semi-Finals.
In the Final, Serbia jumped out to a 43-30 lead at half-time and won, 74-69. Mladen Jeremic had 24 points for Serbia.
"They beat us," Curry said. "But I had a great time with guys I played in the NBA - Patrick Beverley, Johnny Flynn, Mickael Beasley, DeAndre Jordan and many others with whom I'm still in contact. And we still talk about this experience."
Just three years later and Curry found himself on one of the greatest USA teams ever, at the 2010 World Cup in Istanbul.
Despite not having any of the players from the USA's gold medal winning side at the 2008 Olympics, the Americans jelled and took the World Cup by storm.
The only team to give them a close game was Brazil in the Group Phase. While Curry was beginning to emerge as a force in the NBA, he was still just scratching the surface of his potential. He averaged 4.6 points per game in Istanbul.
Kevin Durant got his first chance with the USA that summer and made the most of it. He averaged 22.8 ppg while spearheading the unbeaten title run and was named MVP of the World Cup.
"Winning the whole thing that year, it was Kevin Durant's coming out party," Curry said.
"This was so much fun to watch. I did not play much that year. They only put me in when the other teams played zone to break up the defense because I can shoot. It was just great to see that level of competition as I was trying to come into my own as an NBA player.
"It was nice to be in a position where you're tested in a different way. We had a great team. Kevin played unbelievable that summer. Chauncey Billups, Lamar Odom, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love and so many guys started their international careers that year."
Curry did not play at the 2012 Olympics, yet was selected again for the 2014 World Cup in Spain and was much more influential, averaging 10.7 points per game. No one challenged the USA at that event as they rolled to nine wins in as many games, capping it with a 129-92 rout of Serbia in the Final.
"Being in Spain, that was my first time where I had real responsibilities at that level," he said. "On the perimeter, I was starting with Kyrie Irving and James Harden. AD (Anthony Davis) was on that team, too."
Harden and Davis were the only players that had suited up for the Americans at the London Games two years before.
"That was tough knowing that the 2012 Olympic team had reasserted dominance," Curry said. "We were trying to carry the torch. I had the most fun playing for Team USA that year because I had to play a lot.
"It was a fun group of guys and playing for coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) was awesome. Understanding that game, trying to win the trophy in any tournament is always special."
Curry has experienced all sorts of basketball highs in the 10 years since the triumph in Spain, especially with the four titles playing for Golden State.
In 2015 and 2016, Curry was the MVP of the NBA. His highest scoring seasons with the Warriors were 2015-16 (30.1 ppg) and 2020-21 (32.0 ppg). Curry was the NBA Finals MVP in 2022.
He did not, however, play at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, or at the Tokyo Games three years ago. Playing this year, in France, was something that Curry wanted to do. He wanted to be an Olympian.
"The fact that (Golden State coach) Steve Kerr is the coach of the team helped," Curry said.
Kerr was an assistant with the USA team that finished seventh at the 2019 World Cup and won the Tokyo Games gold medal. Last year as the head coach, Kerr steered the team to fourth place.
"We talked a little bit about his experience last year, what he learned coming out of that World Cup," Curry said. "I probably would have played this year no matter who the coach was but it definitely helped having that familiarity."
There are obvious benefits for Curry that Kerr holds the reins.
"We run some of the same plays we run in Golden State," he said.
"It's an easy transition for me and I can also help on the court for guys that have not played for him to understand. It's cool to kind of know what we've experienced in the last 10 years, me playing for him in Golden State and now we're here at this level."
Curry also gets to play with another of the all-time greats in basketball, LeBron James.
The man the basketball world calls "King" is playing at his fourth Olympics and is going for his third gold medal.
"Playing with LeBron is exactly how I imagined it," Curry said. "He understands the game at such a high level. He's an all-time great.
"You get guys that know how to play on the court, usually good things happen."
James is a marvel at 39. He has as much respect as any athlete at the Games in France because of his success, his talent, his overall impact on sports and his longevity.
We want to show the world we can win - Steph
"It's fun," Curry said. "He's in his 22nd year, I'm in my 16th year and we still have the juice left to still compete.
"I know we both wanted this experience and this is a big part of representing USA with this specific team just because we've never played together and we want to show the world we can win at the highest level."
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