When people learn I covered the LeBron James-era Lakers for five years, they inevitably ask, with eager eyes, “What was it like?”

Typically, I will sigh heavily, then say something like, “It’s complicated.”

It was sometimes frustrating when he would passive aggressively criticize coaching or teammates. And his opaque approach to injuries, sometimes going dark for weeks at a time, tested reporters’ patience

But, as a spectator, it was never complicated. I never lost appreciation for the idea that, every other night, I was watching one of the best basketball players of all time up close. You could anticipate big games, especially when he was playing at Madison Square Garden (his favorite arena) or in Charlotte against Michael Jordan’s Hornets. In the playoffs, I’ve never seen anyone who is consistently more thrilling, who goes all out when he knows his team needs him.

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At 39, James is still that kind of performer — one who understands high stakes and often lives up to the moment in a way other NBA stars cannot. It has never been as apparent who the real greats of the game are as it was Thursday afternoon, when a star-studded Team USA had to catch upset-minded Serbia in the semifinals. For all the talk of how great these U.S. players are, with 10 minutes to go, they were behind by 13 points just to make it to the gold-medal game.

In theory, this is an All-Star cast of the NBA’s best, including All-NBA honorees Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis and Anthony Edwards. It was telling, however, that none of those players was on the floor as the Americans pushed back from the deficit.

Instead we had James, who will turn 40 in December, and 36-year-old Steph Curry leading the charge, with 35-year-old (Maryland native) Kevin Durant chipping in. The best segment: a Curry 3-pointer on an assist from James, a fast-break reverse layup by James, then a Curry layup that flipped the game into a five-point U.S. lead.

I don’t want to debate the merits of the comeback itself. Even though the final quarter was thrilling, we all know Team USA should have won more handily than it did. But it stands out that the older generation powered the winning effort. James had a triple-double, while Curry scored a team-high 36 points.

The idea of “The Dream Team” is intoxicating because it’s the All-Stars we all want to see wearing the same jersey. But the Olympic experience also helps clarify the hierarchy, which is why James and Curry — who were third-team All-NBA last season — were the trusted hands to bring home a win when it mattered.

Is coach Steve Kerr not giving Tatum enough playing time? He just hasn’t been very good in the minutes he’s gotten. Go out and earn it, fella.

Naturally there have been numerous people since the semifinal, including Celtics legend Bob Cousy and Tatum’s own mom, who have criticized the U.S. coaching staff for benching Tatum, because for some reason it’s not enough to win the game. People using terms such as “brand” and “respect” to talk about why younger players deserve more time might not care enough about winning itself.

Kerr — who was Jordan’s teammate for the last three-peat with the Bulls and has overseen Golden State’s dynasty — surely knows the difference between talking points and scoring actual points. His rotations in this Olympics reflect his trust in his winning players, who all happen to be the oldest guys on Team USA.

My biggest old-man gripe about modern NBA stars is that many of them get to a certain level and believe they have arrived. Max contracts, All-NBA teams and MVP votes are incredible milestones, but the greatest players never stop striving for more.

James has won four titles with three different franchises. Curry has four titles with multiple incarnations of the dynasty that really centers around him (his squads with Durant were super teams, but he won both before and after KD played with Golden State). Both stars are attempting to reload this year for postseason runs, even though many would argue they have nothing left to prove. Winning matters to them, no matter how much they’ve already achieved, no matter what the stakes are.

The best players on Olympic teams are always telling. The original 1992 Dream Team was led in scoring by Charles Barkley, but Jordan was the clear-cut top scorer in both the semifinal and gold-medal game. After being humiliated with bronze in 2004 in Athens, James, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant were the three-headed monster leading the Americans on their 2008 Beijing romp. Durant has arguably been the U.S.’ best player for the last three Olympics before this one.

Here are a few players who have averaged fewer than 10 minutes per game in previous Olympics: Draymond Green, James Harden, Amare Stoudemire and John Stockton. The rest of the world has raised its game in the last 32 years, so the U.S. no longer has the luxury of playing the Olympics like an All-Star Game, with even minutes distributed to every star.

With Durant starting Saturday’s gold-medal game against France, it seems Kerr is only doubling down on experience — something the U.S. will need to lean on against French phenom Victor Wembanyama.

In a perfect world, you’d like to see a clean handoff to a younger generation of players in Paris. It’s almost certain that James, Curry and Durant won’t be in L.A. in 2028 for the red, white and blue. But the turnovers, missed shots and general lack of awareness against the well-oiled Serbian team showed that many of them are still learning international basketball or thought they could sleepwalk through it.

Meanwhile, Curry was breaking ankles off screens and James was tipping shots spinning off the rim (a unique quirk of the FIBA game). As my basketball friends texted me Thursday afternoon wondering if the Americans were going to drop the game, with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, I was sure: There was no way.

I have seen games like this before from James and Curry, still the two biggest stars in the NBA after all this time. When they play with a certain determination, they are almost impossible to beat.

It’s something that, as Team USA considers a future beyond them, the stars of tomorrow still have to find within themselves.