After Team USA captured gold in the Paris Olympics, FIBA honored LeBron James as the tournament MVP. The 39-year-old ended the 2024 Summer Olympic Games averaging 14.2 points, 8.5 assists, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game.
⭐️ THE MVP OF #Paris2024 Men’s #Basketball ⭐️
LeBron James, United States of America 🇺🇸 👑 pic.twitter.com/7S6UWxvNPq
— FIBA (@FIBA) August 10, 2024
He ended Saturday’s contest with 14 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, two steals, and one block in 32 minutes.
LeBron James today:
14 PTS
6 REB
10 AST
6-10 FGHis third Olympic Gold medal. pic.twitter.com/055IkOzQLO
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 10, 2024
Team USA All-Time Great LeBron James Named Olympics MVP
James’s performance against France was spectacular in and of itself. However, it’s even more amazing when noting that James recorded a triple-double against Serbia in Team USA’s previous game.
LeCaptain America today:
16 PTS
12 REB
10 AST
6-9 FGThe first player in Olympic history with multiple triple-doubles. pic.twitter.com/KGEyhcgrUx
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 8, 2024
His triple-double was just the third in Olympic history before Nikola Jokic followed up with a triple-double of his own to lead Serbia to bronze. Now, he and Jokic share history as the first two players to notch a triple-double in the same Olympic tournament.
James is the only player in Olympics history with two career triple-doubles in the Games.
Jokic today:
— 19 PTS
— 12 REB
— 11 AST
— Bronze medalLeading the Olympics in points, rebounds, assists and steals. pic.twitter.com/9N3X2jmuTd
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 10, 2024
Despite being a three-time Olympic gold medalist, this is the first time that James has been named MVP.
This may be surprising given his stellar performance in the 2012 London Olympics. However, FIBA had suspended the award in 2008, 2012, and 2016. In 2021, Kevin Durant was named the Tournament MVP of the Tokyo Olympics, which James didn’t take part in. With everything but a Defensive Player of the Year Award to his name, his status as arguably the greatest player of all-time has been fortified.
A Familiar Tale
After putting Team USA on his back in the exhibition games, James got some help as the tournament wore on. In many ways, their play resembled that of the teams that he’s played for in the NBA. With James as their North Star, he’s been tasked with guiding them to a championship for two-plus decades. While his star teammates often came through to deliver, he was the most consistent player on the roster.
On Team USA during the Paris Olympics, and approaching his 22nd NBA season, it was no different.
