LeBron James is five months from his 40th birthday yet he is arguably the best player on the floor for Team USA, a team loaded with All-Stars and potential Hall of Famers.
James sets the tone for the USA not with his scoring, but his ability to distribute, his defense and energy. He has thoroughly impressed his teammates with his passion and professionalism, many of whom had only opposed James until this point.
“”He’s kind of our point guard, really, with this team and he’s playing at such a high level and obviously he’s got so much talent around him, so the game makes a lot of sense when he’s controlling it,” Kerr said. “Every day at practice, he’s so locked in. He’s so vocal. Every film session, every walkthrough. The way he talks, the way he leads. He’s clearly the leader of the group and he brings the best out of everybody.”
There’s a reason why James decided to rejoin Team USA after a 12-year absence. You could tab this “The Reunion Team” with Steph Curry coming on to play with former teammate Kevin Durant and James coming back to rejoin former coaches Tyronn Lue and Erik Spoelstra.
“He’s more down to Earth than people think,” USA center Bam Adebayo told reporters this week in Paris. “He’s been in the limelight forever at this point, since he was what? 15? So being around him you can see he’s actually down to Earth and he tells corny dad jokes.”
USA forward Jayson Tatum, who has played against James for seven years and also took a photo with James as a pre-teen, admires his youthful vigor, which has motivated his teammates.
“It’s been really cool to see his energy level,” Tatum said. “Being a guy that’s been doing this for so long. He truly does come into every practice, every single day with a certain level of excitement. His energy is always through the roof. He’s always talking on and off the court, very personable guy. A lot of times when I go into the weight room in the morning, he’s already there. So it’s cool to see someone who’s accomplished everything he can in this game still have this joy and passion for it at this stage of his career.”
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“Hell yeah. I’m having fun everywhere,” Edwards said. “I get to be with LeBron James and Kevin Durant. So I can’t ask for nothing better than that.”
Durant has been NBA peers with James for 15-plus years. They have a mutual admiration more than a rivalry. Despite their advanced ages, they unquestionably have been two of the most productive players on the USA roster. They were together on the 2012 London team winning a gold medal.
“”I’m so grateful to have him back,” Durant said “We’ve missed him the last two Olympics. He puts fear in the other team. That goes a long way, the psyche of the game. He’s running downhill, making the right plays on the offensive and defensive end. He’s just insane and I’m glad he’s on our team.”
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He’s here for one purpose, and that’s a third gold medal.
“At the end of the day I just want to win,” he said. “I’m here to win and win the gold and that’s my only mindset. It’s not about scoring or any of the stats. (It’s about) all the stats that pretty much don’t show up: closing out, getting hockey assists (the pass before the assist) if possible, stopping guys crashing the glass.”
Gary Washburn is an Olympic Channel correspondent and National NBA Writer for the Boston Globe.
