Emotions flew and so did the USA’s star-spangled flag.
As expected, Team USA men’s basketball team—a collection of the game’s greatest talents—soared like The Avengers in the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
France took silver, making a compelling case for the future as American basketball's next biggest threat.
Serbia returned to the podium for the first time since Rio 2016, as superstar big Nikola Jokic bagged his first-ever piece of Olympic silverware.
As Paris 2024 concluded, let's take a look at some of the international basketball stars who made their strides and mark in the Olympic men's basketball all-time lists.
Olympic basketball steals
In likely his final Olympics, LeBron James is crowned again.
A third gold is secured. And once again, what he’s doing at nearly 40 years of age, going into his 22nd NBA season, is astonishing and perhaps won’t be repeated for quite some time.
That includes being the all-time leader in OIympic steals with 44, with other notable international players rising up the ladder.
Australia's Patty Mills is now third in the list with 40 steals. While Rudy Fernandez--who could arguably be one of or the greatest Spanish basketball player of all time--is joint fourth with USA’s Chris Paul by tallying 38.
Aside from bagging his fourth Olympic gold, Kevin Durant also rose to no. 8 with 33, tied with Lithuania’s Sarunas Jasikevicius and Italy’s Pablo Prigioni.
Olympic basketball assists
Back to James and his playmaking prowess in full display in Paris, just enough for the NBA’s all-time leading scorer to occupy the second spot in the all-time assist list with 139 – behind only Lithuania’s Sarunas Jasikevicius' 160 dimes.
Heading to Paris 2024, James was ninth and jumped seven spots overall, further cementing his legacy among the greatest passers the game has ever seen.
Brazil’s Marcelo Huertas, who set the men's record for being the oldest player to compete in an Olympic basketball game at 41 years and 63 days against host France, also cracked into the top 10 with 89 for ninth place.
Paris 2024 is also the swansong for the veteran playmaker, punctuating an illustrious 20-year career with the Seleção.
Olympic basketball triple-doubles
More of James, as the four-time NBA champion is also the new king of Olympic triple-double after his masterful performance in their semifinal win against Jokic and Serbia.
LeBron had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 95-91 victory over the Serbs--on his way to becoming the only player in Olympics history to have multiple triple-doubles.
He first recorded the feat 12 years ago in London, producing a 11-14-12 statline against Australia.
Speaking of The Joker, the three-time NBA MVP joined an exclusive list by becoming just the fourth player after Alexander Belov, Luka Doncic, and James to tally a triple-double in an Olympic game.
Jokic put on an all-around effort 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists en route to powering Serbia to a 93-83 victory over world champion Germany to clinch bronze.
Olympic basketball three-pointers
Back to Durant, who is now solo second in the all-time three-pointers made with 88--behind only the great Oscar Schmidt of Brazil who had 103 triples.
Mills, a 2014 champion with the San Antonio Spurs, played in his fifth Olympics and jumped to fourth place with 77. Fernandez finished his career with 56 three-pointers - good for 10th.
Steph Curry, who made his Olympic debut at 36 years old, made the hardcourt in Paris his own shooting playground when the four-time NBA champion just became just the fifth player ever to record nine or more triples in a single game.
In their semifinal clash against Serbia, Curry shot the lights out and drilled nine triples to finish with 36 points to lead Team USA’s comeback win.
The NBA’s all-time threes leader followed that up with eight treys, including four in the final 2:37 of the game, to lead the Americans to their fifth-straight gold after beating host France.
Olympic basketball games played
Even before Paris 2024, Fernandez already made history by becoming the only player to appear in six Olympics as the 39-year-old also moved into fourth place in the all-time games played with 37.
Olympic basketball scoring list
Despite exiting in the quarterfinals, Mills had quite an impressive personal campaign in Paris when the seasoned veteran rose to no.5 in all-time scoring list with 567 markers.
Durant, who is now USA Basketball’s all-time leading scorer regardless of gender, moved up to the eighth spot with 518.
Both players also made significant moves in the most field goals made leaderboard with Mills (206) taking fifth and Durant (173) ending in ninth, respectively.
Olympic basketball blocks
KD also shone in defense, entering the top 10 of the all-time blocks leader with 17. But The French duo of Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum made their mark, with Gobert (36) now in joint third with China legend Yao Ming and Batum (23) placing fifth.
Olympic basketball games won
Finally, two of Team USA’s ‘Big Three” in James and Durant also moved up in the all-time games won list with the former now claiming 27 wins —good for fourth place– and the latter just closing behind with 26 victories for no. 5.
