A positively stacked United States team headlined by LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and the Olympic debutant Stephen Curry would expect to be hot favourites to win a fourth straight gold when the men’s basketball final tips off on the penultimate day of the Games in Bercy. Quelle surprise, non?
Only getting to this gold medal game – and winning it – won’t be the fait accompli of years past. A cluster of rivals laden with NBA stars including Serbia (the three-time MVP Nikola Jokic), Canada (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), Australia (Josh Giddey) and Germany (Dennis Schröder) are each capable of offering stiff resistance to the Americans, especially under Fiba rules. But the gnarliest challenge will be posed by France, buoyed up by rollicking home support and a front line featuring 7ft 1in Rudy Gobert, the four-time NBA defensive player of the year, and 7ft 4in Victor Wembanyama, perhaps the most promising young player since James entered the professional ranks more than two decades ago.
