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Stephen Curry: A year ago, today. We did that! Loved hooping with my guys, representing our country, and bringing home the 🥇. Memories for a lifetime. Avengers forever. #nuitnuit LeBron James: Yessir!!!!! 🫡👑💪🏾
In front of the camera, Yabusele relives every moment of that historic game. From behind-the-scenes prep and the team bus ride, to the move that changed his life: a thunderous dunk over LeBron James. One year later, now signed with the Knicks and propelled to global stardom, he opens up like never before about the moment that marked a turning point in his career. “The fact that this was the final of the Olympics, the fact that it was LeBron, the fact that he blocked me a couple of actions before that, and he was talking a little bit, all this makes it even better now”, admits Yabusele.
Derrick White: Olympic Kevin Durant is so cold
Derrick White on Kevin Durant: “Olympic KD is so cold. Before, I told people — imagine running as fast as you can, jumping as high as you can, reaching as high as possible, and not being close to the ball. That’s every KD jumper. I’ve always wanted to block his shot — never have. At the Olympics, he was hurt at first, rehabbing. Practiced the day before the Serbia game, knocking off rust. Then comes in as sixth man KD — unbelievable. Hit a fall-away at the halftime buzzer — I told him, you’re one of the coldest ever. In close games, we’d just give KD the ball up top — whatever shot he wants. He’s a hooper 24/7. First thing he asked me was why I wasn’t practicing. I said they’re taking me slow. He’s like, you’re a hooper — just go hoop. Simple. He loves the game. There’s nothing you can do when he’s in that mode."
Derrick White on United States opening ceremony at Olympics: ‘We’re on the boat a while before it even takes off. It starts raining, I grab the poncho. Then I see people going to the front where LeBron and Coco are. I’m like, nice spot. They tell me to move because they’re flag bearers. I end up next to a big sign with French writing. I duck under it and see it says ‘United States of America.’ I think, they don’t need this — it’s obvious it’s us. Sabrina’s next to me saying, ‘You’re fine.’ I’m having a great time. After, my phone’s blowing up — people saying there’s no way I stood in front of that sign. The poncho was lit up around my head. Someone even photoshopped me out so it said USA. We laughed as a team. I wasn’t trying to be there, but I had a great spot for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics."
Derrick White: “The night we won the championship was the first time I said something about the Olympics. We were in the playoffs when I saw a tweet saying if Kawhi couldn’t go, I might be a possibility. My agent didn’t bring it up — we were focused on the playoffs. Then we won. I was in the hallway like, ‘Mike, am I going to the Olympics?’ He’s like, we’ll see. In that moment, I was like, I’m going. But then I didn’t hear anything. They said Kawhi was at training camp in Vegas, so I thought I wasn’t going. I moved on. Then, later, USA called. I had to go. Missed our huge 30th birthday trip to Mexico. They had a life-size cutout of me at the party. I paid for the whole weekend for everyone, even though I wasn’t there. Wasn’t cheap. But I had to go win a gold."
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Is there a moment that sticks out that you think was your favorite or that you cherish the most? Sergio Rodriguez: Again, it’s tough to choose one, But probably, you know, being in the NBA, winning the three Euroleagues that I had won, playing for Real Madrid, playing for the National Team, Olympic Games of 2012, that we got the silver medal. So there are moments, winning the European Championship and the gold medal at the World Cup in 2006. So there are many moments. And when I see them and reflect on those moments, I feel very grateful.
Novak Djokovic on Nikola Jokic playing with Serbian NT: 'It's a lot of responsibility for him'
"The NBA season takes a lot out of him. Every year, we have either it's a European championship, or a World Championship, or the Olympic Games... And there is always a question mark 'Will he play? Is he gonna play for his national team?' There is always a debate. People are very passionate about the best players playing for our national team. It’s a lot of responsibility for him. I get him, I understand that. But he has done so much for our country and then for basketball as a whole. It’s amazing."
Before moving to the NBA, Popovich spent 15 seasons in the collegiate ranks, working as an assistant coach on Hank Egan’s staff at the United States Air Force Academy, from 1973-79, before serving as the head coach for the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges from 1979-88. As the head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team, Popovich led Team USA to the gold medal in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Jaylen Brown on not being picked by Team USA for Olympics: It was the best summer of my life, to be honest
Cementing your name in the history books. But you didn’t get called to the Olympics, when everybody knows you should have been in the Olympics. How did you feel? Did you feel any type of way? Did you not feel any type of way? Did you say, "It’s cool, I’ll be there next year. I’ll be there next time"? How did you take it? JAYLEN BROWN I’m gonna be honest with y’all. Gillie: Yes, that’s what we want! That’s why we needed you here—complete honesty. JAYLEN BROWN: Man, I had a great summer. I had a blast. I’m doing—I’m making—I’m in music videos, um, you know, I went to Mecca, I’m traveling the world. I mean, because online, you know, people perceive things a certain way. Because I was saying what I said. What I said—I meant what I said about, like, the shoe industry, etc. I meant what I said about, you know, everything. But that didn’t stop me from having a great-ass time this summer. So, like, to be honest, I was in great spirits. It was the best summer of my life, to be honest. So I didn’t miss out—to me. You know, even though it would have been great to be there, you know, amongst the greats—Steph, KD, LeBron, etc.—man, I had a great summer.
Gilgeous-Alexander unpacks the moments in his mind, deciding for himself whether there’s a through line on the logic. His answer comes with the same sort of self-awareness that was so apparent that day inside Bercy Arena in Paris. “Yeah, absolutely,” Gilgeous-Alexander, whose Thunder (63-12) have won 10 consecutive games and 16 of their last 17, told The Athletic. “In that instance, I’m thinking like, ‘We’re a bunch of NBA players (on Team Canada). We’re supposed to be in the Olympics. We’re supposed to medal.’ I don’t think anything of it. I think I’m gonna be back here in four years in L.A. But knock on wood, I could be injured and not be in the Olympics, and then four years from then, I could be out of my prime, and there’s someone better than me, and I never get a chance to go to Olympics again.
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“It’s a terrible feeling, obviously,” Gilgeous-Alexander said to his basketball brothers while sitting at his locker, as captured in Netflix’s “Court of Gold” documentary about the men’s basketball tournament in Paris. “I think for me, personally, I might have overlooked the opportunity a little bit. Like, once the game was over, I realized it’s another four years until we get this opportunity (again). That’s a long f—ing time. So for me, and I’d advise the rest of you, to remember what this feels like.”
“I think losing that game (to France) really showed me like, ‘Now I have to wait another four years for this.’ (And) that showed me like, you don’t ever want to take things for granted, because nothing in life is promised. Like (Thunder) coach (Mark Daigneault) said a couple weeks ago, this group that we have today could be the best group of players I ever play with. You think, ‘Oh, we’re all 25 or under, so we have a whole runway in front of us.’ But you never know what happens.” As Gilgeous-Alexander explained, the spirit of that last statement has many layers to it. There’s the elephant-in-the-room historical context, as the Thunder know as well as any organization that the runway isn’t always as long as it might appear for teams with dynamic young cores. Their famed trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden famously led an NBA Finals run in 2012, only for Harden to be traded to the Houston Rockets before the following season. Durant and Westbrook couldn’t bring the Thunder back to that finals peak.
According to men’s team general manager Rowan Barrett, the chief criteria for the incoming head coach is international experience and success. “We believe our team will be ready to go for the podium in the LA 2028 Olympic Games 2028,” Barrett said, via text. “And that we are first looking for coaches that have experience winning medals at the World Cup or the Olympics … there (has) been interest candidates from all over the world.” While Canada Basketball wouldn’t offer any further comment on their process, multiple sources have suggested that Gord Herbert is the leading candidate for the men’s team.
Gary Payton on 1996 Olympics: We were out every night in the strip club and blowing every team out
Gary Payton: So, I’m going to tell you how this went. In '96, I made First Team All-NBA. I made First Team All-Defense. I was on the Olympic team. We won a gold medal. I got the first contract for a point guard to be the highest-paid ever—they gave me $92 million. For the first time. For the first time—92! I won Defensive Player of the Year. And then, all of a sudden, everything started rolling in at once. You know what I’m saying? I did all of that in one year. I won almost everything in basketball during that time. I was on every team, every accolade—I was on the All-Star Team, all that. I almost won MVP in the All-Star Game, but they gave it to Mitch Richmond. I lost by one vote on that. My life was on cloud 20. And I made it cloud 20 because I was in the club every night after that. Then, we went to Atlanta for the Olympics, and we were out every night—in the strip club every night—and blowing everybody out. Dream Team 2 was in Atlanta. To make that and do that—that was one of the best things ever.
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