LeBron James clinched his third Gold medal for Team USA at the Olympics, tying players like Carmelo Anthony for second-most in the men’s program. After winning the Paris 2024 Gold where he was named MVP, James reflected on which one of his three wins would be called the best. LeBron answered by naming the 2024 team, but he did it diplomatically and referred to his previous successes as well.
“I mean, (this) is the best one because it’s the one that’s right now. I mean, obviously the Redeem Team (in ’08) had a lot of — you know, we had to come back, because we had a couple of years where we weren’t playing to our capability. So in ’08, we had the Redeem Team come back, and then in ’12 we played some good ball as well and were able to win that in London.”
LeBron’s Olympic career has been stellar, as he firmly plants himself as one of the three greatest Team USA players. He has a solid argument for No. 2, as No. 1 is going to be held by Kevin Durant for winning four Gold medals. Durant is not only the winningest player in Team USA history, he also is their leading scorer and rebounder.
The 2008 Olympics held a greater cultural cache for a breathtaking Final that the USA came close to losing along with that being the team that re-established top NBA stars declaring to participate in the Olympics.
The 2024 Olympics have a similar story, though it wasn’t following up a Bronze medal at the Olympics like 2008 did. It was following up a fourth-place finish at the 2023 FIBA World Cup but did have to bring back the trend of the best American players in the world needing to make themselves available for selection. The win over Serbia is arguably one of the greatest wins in Team USA history as well.
The narrative for James was much stronger in 2024, as he was the unquestioned leader of the roster while surrounded by other superstars. The 2008 team was led by Kobe Bryant with James playing the role of young superstar on the roster. For James’ career itself, it’s hard to pass over the 2024 Olympics.
James has confirmed that he won’t be putting on the Team USA jersey again, with the 2024 Olympics being his national team swansong after he broke a 12-year appearance gap to return to the national team.
“No, I can’t see myself playing in Los Angeles 2028. I didn’t see myself playing in Paris 2024 either. But four years from now, I can’t see it.”
James averaged 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in the 2008 Olympics before putting up 13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in the 2012 Olympics. He won Olympics MVP in 2024, averaging 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 8.5 assists over the tournament.
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