LeBron James showed up in shiny, gold shoes, just like the medal he wore around his neck after the final against France last Saturday.
For LeBron James, his color choice seemed like a statement: About his intentions in the Olympics, about his mission for the USA Basketball team, about how everything in his basketball life would lead to another gold medal.
At 39, James isn’t just here to help his country win another Olympic title. He’s here to prove one thing: As long as James plays the sport, no one will outshine him.
In fact, James did. He was the best player at the Olympics, winning the tournament’s MVP award. He has the ability to dominate a basketball game at a level that almost no one else in the world can match.
James has beaten everyone at the Olympics. His physical abilities are amazing. His passing is phenomenal. His reading of the game and decision making is better than ever. When he starts to put his head down and become a freight train to the rim, there is no one in the world who can stop James.
Even on a team full of superstars, the 39-year-old still outshined them all. Anthony Edwards was a no-show. Jayson Tatum was just running around to see James shine. These were the guys who were supposed to replace James as the new face of the NBA in the US, but none of them were ready for it. Ultimately, the US team revolved around James, and he had a successful final Olympics.
Looking at the U.S. performances from game one to game two, everyone had their ups and downs. Steph Curry went from an early stalemate to a flurry of 3-pointers to stop France in the final. Kevin Durant struggled to return from injury. Joel Embiid was helpful in some moments, but lost in others.
But James was there. He erased the doubters from the games against South Sudan and Germany. He was the U.S.’s energizer in the qualifiers. When things looked like they were falling apart against Serbia, James powered the Americans through. And in the gold medal game against France, everything clicked for him: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists in nearly 33 minutes on the court.
Even in a team full of superstars, the US gold medal could only have been made possible because James was still there. In the history of world basketball, has any player in his late 40s had such an impact?
