Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was one of the defining stars of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. He was the de facto captain of the Team USA men’s basketball roster and won the MVP award for the event.

James led Team USA to a gold medal run that involved defeating NBA stars like Nikola Jokic (Serbia) and Victor Wembanyama (France).

The United States was tested more than they likely expected to be. They nearly lost to South Sudan in one of their showcase games, needed a historic fourth-quarter comeback to get past Serbia in the semifinal and used an explosive final quarter from Stephen Curry to win the gold.

For James, one of the best parts of the Olympic experience was seeing the global impact of the game of basketball. He hopes that his team’s run to the gold can serve as an uplifting thing for basketball fans across the globe, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic:

“We got our moment,” said LeBron James, 39, the second-oldest player at the Olympics, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and now, MVP of the 2024 Olympic tournament. “It’s a basketball world. Everybody loves the game. We just hope that we continue to inspire people all over the world.”

The United States have now won five consecutive gold medals and they have no plans to slow down from here, even though they are likely to lose James, Curry and Kevin Durant in 2028. However, Team USA’s dominance on the world stage continues to be aspirational as basketball becomes more and more of a global game.

The NBA is doing what they can to expand their reach around the world. And wins like the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics help to serve that purpose greatly.

LeBron James names 2024 Team USA “The Avengers”

The 2024 Olympic roster for Team USA was a true 12-deep. LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were the leaders and the team’s best players for much of the tournament, but they received contributions from nearly everyone. Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Joel Embiid and Jrue Holiday all had massive moments while Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Anthony Edwards provided superstar depth.

This group immediately goes into the pantheon of some of the all-time great United States men’s Olympic basketball rosters, alongside the 1992 Dream Team and 2008 Redeem Team. And James had an apt nickname when describing the 2024 roster, calling them ‘The Avengers.’