NBA superstars LeBron James and Stephen Curry are among several top players interested in competing for the United States at next year’s Paris Olympics, multiple reports said Monday. According to The Athletic, James, a two-time Olympic champion and four-time NBA champion, is recruiting fellow NBA stars for a U.S. squad that will seek a fifth gold medal next year in France. Curry, a four-time NBA champion guard with the Golden State Warriors, has expressed his desire to play on the Olympic squad coached by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, ESPN reported.
The news comes a day after a U.S. team of 20-something NBA stars left the Basketball World Cup empty-handed after losing to Canada in the bronze-medal game and falling to eventual champion Germany in the semifinals.
James, a 38-year-old forward, led the United States to Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012 but has not played since.
He knows the sting of defeat on the global stage, though, having been a reserve on the 2004 U.S. squad that settled for bronze at the Athens Olympics and a team that won bronze at the 2006 Basketball World Cup.
James is not only interested in playing for Paris Olympic gold but has also called on fellow former NBA Most Valuable Players Curry and Kevin Durant in hopes of luring them to play in 2024.
Two-time NBA champion Durant, a forward for the Phoenix Suns who turns 35 later this month, helped lead the U.S. Olympic gold medal efforts in London as well as Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021.
Curry never played for the U.S. Olympic squad but helped American clubs win the 2010 and 2014 World Cup crowns — their only titles since 1994.
Other James recruits for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team, according to The Athletic, include his Los Angeles Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, Golden State’s Draymond Green and Boston’s Jayson Tatum.
Phoenix’s Devin Booker, a three-time NBA All-Star, and Golden State’s 38-year-old Chris Paul, the 2008 and 2012 gold medalist, are among those interested in the Paris Olympics, according to ESPN.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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