LeBron James made his emphatic return to Olympic basketball on Sunday, turning in a dominant performance in a 110-84 win against Serbia, his first contest at the Games since 2012.
It was the first time James had played in the quadrennial tournament since winning his second consecutive gold medal at the London Games and it was clear the 39-year-old all-time leading NBA scorer was bringing as much energy as he can to Paris. The US next plays South Sudan on Wednesday, who ran the Americans close in an exhibition game in London before the Games that was decided by just a point.
James’ 21 points, eight rebounds and nine assists helped provide the spark for Team USA throughout the contest. The ever-present four-time NBA champion seemed to always be on the verge of breaking out of the US backcourt on the fast break, exemplified by a tough, contested layup in the third quarter, in which the Los Angeles Lakers star powered through a Serb defender for a bucket.
“LeBron puts his imprint on the game in so many different ways. It’s not just his skill, his strength, his size, but it’s his emotion, his confidence. Just the way he infuses our team with energy and confidence at 39 (years old) is just amazing,” head coach Steve Kerr said after the game.
The first half though was all about Kevin Durant, who scored 21 points on 8-for-8 shooting. It’s the Phoenix Suns forward’s fourth time at the Olympics and his performance proved just how much the two-time NBA champion loves this particular competition.
Durant is recovering from a calf injury and his playing time was limited during the game, otherwise he might have ended the contest with an even more ridiculous stat line.
“It’s good to have him back out there. We’ve been seeing him work. Back at it again,” Durant’s Phoenix Suns teammate Devin Booker said postgame.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. I play alongside him. He’s one of the most efficient players that ever played this game. I was joking about him missing that one shot, but I’m sure right after this game, he’s going to be like, I’m pissed I missed that one shot. That’s just how great he is.”
“We expect nothing less,” Lakers big man Anthony Davis added about Durant, who finished with 23 points, “We know what he can do when the ball is in his hand, and he got hot. It was fun to watch his first time, second time, 12th.
“To see and be a fan and actually get a chance to cheer for him instead of rooting against (him) with his scoring ability – man, it was fun to watch.”
Debutants making an impact
On a team laden with stars, two first-time Olympians also stood out against Serbia.
Anthony Edwards made his Olympics debut and already has his first highlight reel play. With a deft spin-and-pump-fake move along the baseline on Team USA’s final possession of the third quarter, the Minnesota Timberwolves guard sent a Serb defender flying past him toward the sideline as he went to the basket. Edwards was left with an uncontested shot that he easily floated in for a bucket, putting the US up by 19 heading into the final frame.
The move and bucket from Edwards set off celebrations among his teammates, including Steph Curry breaking into dance. Edwards finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
It appeared to be the turning point that put Team USA on its way to a blowout win after Serbia hung around for much of the first three quarters of the game.
Curry’s three-point shooting proved to be a major asset in the early going as Serbia jumped out to a hot start. A couple of key buckets in the early part of the first quarter helped stymie the Europeans’ run and kept the US from having too big of a hole to dig itself out of.
The Golden State Warriors star was largely quiet for the rest of the game, missing a couple of shots that he might like to have back as he gets used to the shorter international three-point line. He finished the game with an exclamation point three-pointer for 11 points.
Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker also turned in solid performances with 15 and 12 points respectively.
One figure missing, surprisingly so, was Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum. Kerr said after the game that the 2024 NBA champion didn’t factor into his game plan for Serbia – even if he felt crazy for making that call.
“It’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys. And with Kevin coming back, I just went to the combinations I felt would make the most sense. It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at it and determined these are the line-ups I want to get to,” Kerr said.
He added, “But the key is, and our guys know this, the key to this whole thing is to put all the NBA stuff in the rearview mirror and just win six games. Jayson is the ultimate pro, a champion, and he handled it well and he’s going to be ready for the next one.”
Serbia figures to be a force in this tournament though thanks to its talismanic forward Nikola Jokić. The Serbians refused to go away in the game, even as Team USA picked up steam in the second half with the three-time NBA MVP Jokić finished with 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Serbia’s next game is on Wednesday against Puerto Rico.