MIES (Switzerland) - No one is going to forget the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024. EVER!
From the players that lived up to the hype to the enormous crowds that watched them on one of the game's biggest stages, nothing disappointed in Olympic basketball this year.
Here are our Top 10 stories:
10 - Rudy Fernandez the Six-Time Olympian
The Spanish legend did something that no player had done before him. He played at the Olympics for the sixth time in his remarkable career. Fernandez made his Olympic bow at the Athens Olympics and after many unforgettable moments in his basketball life, finished his playing career with the Summer Games in Lille.
Fernandez will be known for many achievements, like winning two FIBA Basketball World Cups and four EuroBaskets. To play at six Olympics, while capturing two silver medals and a bronze, added to his legend.
9 - The Bright Stars
South Sudan not only reached the Olympics at the first attempt, qualifying as the African team with the best finish at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. They also did something that African teams have always had trouble doing and that was winning a game.
The Bright Stars dazzled fans in Lille with battles against eventual gold medalists USA and bronze medalists Serbia, yet before that, they beat Puerto Rico, 90-79, in the first Olympic game they'd ever played. It's the dawn of a new era in African basketball.
8 - Yabusele's poster dunk
Gerschon Yabusele and France did not beat the USA in their Gold Medal Game, yet they did do something that many fans might not have thought was possible. Yabusele, one of the breakout stars of the Olympics, dunked on The King! Yabusele instantly became one of international basketball's most famous players with his dunk on 2024 Olympic MVP LeBron James in the Gold Medal Game.
It symbolized how some of the leading teams in the world believe they can now compete with the all-conquering USA at the Olympics.
7 - The 4-point play
How cruel sports can be, that a player like Yuki Kawamura can be the best player in a game and just seconds away from Japan's most famous victory in international basketball against hosts France, only to foul an opponent as he makes a 3-pointer.
That shooter was Matthew Strazel, who made the free-throw for the rare 4-point play that forced overtime. Kawamura had 29 points and 6 assists but France won, 94-90, a result that helped them go on to advance to the Quarter-Finals and ultimately claim the silver medal.
6. The Curry and James "Bromance"
That's what USA coach Steve Kerry called it, a "bromance" involving two of the biggest rivals in NBA history, Stephen Curry and LeBron James. The two hoops icons fired the USA to Gold Medal Game glory, leading by example in the arguably toughest Olympic competition of all-time. "There is so much respect," Kerr said.
"There has been for so long. But until you are playing on the same team, you do not know what it is going to be like. It clicked from day one."
5. USA's comeback
It's tough enough to beat Serbia in international basketball, yet to do so twice in the same tournament? That's one reason why USA struggled in the Semi-Finals, trailing Nikola Jokic and Co. by 17 points before staging a remarkable comeback to win, 95-91.
The Americans were behind virtually the entire game before taking the lead thanks to a red-hot Curry, who had an eye-popping 36 points. What comes around goes around, because Serbia themselves had trailed Australia by 24 points in their Quarter-Final showdown, only to come back and win after overtime.
4 - Jokic's heroics against the Boomers
The three-time reigning NBA MVP Jokic didn't need to prove to the world that he is arguably the best, yet did remind everyone of his skill, his tough-as-nails mentality and his love of playing for Serbia while keeping his country's medal hopes alive against Australia. Jokic made plays all over the court, first to help Serbia come from behind and take the lead, and then to force overtime in his team's 95-90 win.
Jokic wound up with 21 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks, 4 steals and a +38 efficiency. Thanks to that win, Serbia were able to throw a major scare into the USA in the Semi-Finals before avenging their 2023 World Cup Final defeat to Germany by beating them in the Bronze Medal Game, 93-83.
3 - The greatest crowd numbers in Olympic history
Digest this fact, that a record 1,078,319 fans combined walked through the turnstiles to watch the men's and women's Olympic basketball tournament games in France. It was a testament to the ever-growing popularity of basketball, the quality of talent on display and the power of the international game.
Combine that with the tens of millions of fans that watched games on television and the record-breaking engagement levels on all FIBA digital platforms for an Olympic year and the sport was a massive success.
2 - Two big-time Olympic debuts
How spectacular was Franz Wagner making his Olympic bow? Just hit rewind and savor the memory of his dunk in Germany's Group Phase triumph over France, when he put all five Les Bleus on a poster.
How spectacular will Victor Wembanyama become considering his Olympic debut for France, when the 2.21M (7'3") center led his country in numerous statistical categories (15.8 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game, 2.0 steals per game and 1.7 blocks per game) and made the All-Star Five?
1 - Curry's explosion
It may never happen again, what Stephen Curry did in the last two games at the Olympics. Not only did he drill 9 3-pointers on his way to 36 points in a drama-filled, come-from-behind 95-91 Semi-Final triumph over Serbia. Curry followed that up by burying 8 3-balls in USA's 98-87 Gold Medal Game victory over France.
And what's more, the superstar said his last trey that sealed the win for the USA over France, the "golden dagger," ranks No. 1 among all of his career 3-pointers.
FIBA