PARIS (AP) — LeBron James knows there aren’t many moments like this left. He’s 39. He’s entering his 22nd professional season. It’s logical to expect that the Paris Olympics will be his last time on this stage, and who knows if he’s got one more NBA championship run in him.
If this is the Olympic finish line, though, he’s not sputtering toward it.
He’s leading — on pace to do so in a way that the U.S. has never seen before.
James could win the third gold medal of his Olympic career on Saturday night, when the U.S. takes on France for the title in Paris. If it happens, he’ll become just the third men’s player with at least three golds; Kevin Durant would have a record four golds should the U.S. win, and James would tie Carmelo Anthony for second on the all-time list with three Olympic titles.
James shoots during thr men’s semifinal against Serbia. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill,Pool)
“We know what we’re here for,” said James, who was one of the flag bearers along with tennis star Coco Gauff, tasked with leading the U.S. into the opening ceremony.
James enters the final as the U.S. leader in points (14.8 per game), rebounds (7.0 per game) and assists (8.2 per game) during these Olympics. Since all those stats started being tracked — assists were added to the box score at the Olympics starting with 1976 — no U.S. men’s player has ever led an Olympic team in all three of those categories. Some have come close, notably Durant at the Tokyo Games three years ago. But nobody has finished atop the list in all three categories.
So, yet another accolade may await. U.S. coach Steve Kerr needs only one word to describe how James — the NBA’s all-time scoring leader and the U.S. all-time Olympic leader in assists, by a wide margin — is still playing, still dominating, at 39.
The word: “Crazy.”
“This is maybe one of the best things about this trip for me, to see LeBron behind the scenes, see the preparation, see the focus and getting a picture for why he is who he is,” Kerr said. “It’s just amazing to watch him. He loves the game so much. He loves the work. He loves his teammates. There’s an energy and a joy to LeBron that just sort of spreads through the locker room. He’s obviously one of the very best all-time players, but it goes so far beyond one thing. It’s just everything, the whole package. He’s just brilliant.”
