A roadmap to follow for the men's basketball competition during the Paris Olympics: (More Sports News)
Basketball Athletes To Watch At Paris Olympics:
바카라” LeBron James, United States: The NBA's all-time scoring leader seeks his third Olympic gold medal (2008, 2012) and returns to the Games for the first time in 12 years. At 39, James presumably is playing in his final Olympics.
바카라” Kevin Durant, United States: He is seeking to become the first four-time men's basketball gold medalist, after helping the U.S. win gold at Tokyo in 2021, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and London in 2012.
바카라” Victor Wembanyama, France: The NBA rookie of the year and runner-up for defensive player of the year (behind French teammate Rudy Gobert) will be one of the faces of the Paris Games.
바카라” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada: The runner-up in this season's NBA MVP voting behind Nikola Jokic of Serbia (another likely Olympic player this summer) will be asked to help deliver Canada a medal. It's not out of reach, as proven by Canada's bronze at the World Cup last summer.
바카라” Stephen Curry, United States: The NBA's all-time 3-point leader will make his Olympic debut at age 36.
Storyline To Follow:
바카라” The drive for five. Can the U.S. win gold for a fifth consecutive Olympics, or has the world caught up to the Americans? France figures to have perhaps the best chance at ending the U.S. reign. Serbia is the first opponent for the Americans; it also has gold-medal aspirations. And Puerto Rico awaits in the group stage finale; the last time the U.S. played the island nation in the Olympics led to an embarrassing loss in 2004.
바카라” Wemby. Victor Wembanyama's first season in the NBA didn't disappoint, and now the French star will take his game to the biggest stage in the sport, on home soil no less.
바카라” South Sudan. Officially a nation for only about 13 years, the African country is headed to the Olympics for the first time.
바카라” Spain, Puerto Rico, Greece and Brazil. These are the four teams that won their way into the tournament on July 7. And they should arrive in France with plenty of momentum. Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo is in the Olympics for the first time; Spain's Rudy Fernandez is in for his men's-tournament-record sixth time.
Key Dates:
바카라” July 27-Aug. 3, group games.
바카라” Aug. 6, quarterfinals.
바카라” Aug. 8, semifinals.
바카라” Aug. 10, gold-medal and bronze-medal games.
Reigning Champion:
The U.S. beat France for the gold medal at the Tokyo Games, the fourth consecutive Olympic title for the Americans.
