LeBron James vs Victor Wembanyama: Evaluating 2024 Paris Olympics runs so far
An exciting face-off between Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James is set to take place at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The USA Men's National Basketball Team punched their spot in the final by beating Serbia. Meanwhile, the French National squad prevailed over the 2023 World Cup champions Germany for a chance at the gold medal.
Aside from national pride being at stake, a face-off between King James and Wemby offers fans an exciting narrative. Wemby, who looks poised to become the face of the league, will battle against the person who held this same distinction in his prime.
Here is a look at how both these stars have performed so far in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
LeBron James has led Team USA to an undefeated run so far
While their pre-Olympics tune-up matches raised a few questions and doubts, the USA Men's Basketball team quickly erased those once the actual games began. They escaped the Group Phase unscathed, beating every single team in Group C by double figures to secure a spot in the quarterfinal.
In their three Group Phase games, LeBron James averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 assists and 5.6 rebounds. While Steve Kerr has experimented with his lineups resulting in some players being benched, James was a permanent fixture in the starting lineup in all three of their Group Stage games.
In the quarterfinal against Brazil, James scored 12 points on a 5-for-6 shooting clip while also dishing nine assists. His performance helped his team rout the Brazilians 122-87.
In the semifinal, Team USA faced off against Serbia once more after already beating them in the Group Stage. This time though, the Serbians were not going to go down without a fight.
At one point, they even held a 17-point lead and were on the verge of stopping the Americans from securing another Olympic gold medal.
However, a triple-double performance from none other than LeBron James (16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) helped Team USA to a comeback win.
Also read: Sportscaster Noah Eagle hypes up LeBron James' clutch play vs Serbia calling him 'LeCaptain America' on air
Victor Wembanyama has lived up to the expectations
Regardless of how the Finals go at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Victor Wembanyama will be adding an Olympic medal to his hardware collection. The only question is if he'll be taking home silver or gold.
Wemby's performance up until this point has been nothing short of impressive. He has shown the world that he is capable of matching up with the veterans, establishing himself as a future basketball star.
However, his and his team's path to the final hasn't been as smooth as LeBron James and Team USA's. In the group phase, they beat Brazil in their opener by 12 points (78-66) before barely escaping against Japan with a four-point victory (95-91).
In their last game of the group phase, they would suffer their only defeat so far, at the hands of Germany (85-71). In those three games, Wemby averaged 16.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.0 blocks.
Despite suffering one loss, they were able to secure a spot in the quarterfinal where they faced a stacked Canadian team led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Against Canada, Wemby had his lowest-scoring output yet, only scoring seven points on a poor 2-for-10 clip. However, his team rallied around him and they were able to prevail 82-73 to advance to the semifinal.
In the semis, they would face off against the only team that has bested them so far, Germany. This time around though, the French squad would turn things around with a win (73-69) to secure their spot in the gold medal game.
Victor Wembanyama scored 11 points, grabbed seven boards and rejected three shots.
When is the final of the 2024 Paris Olympic Basketball competition?
LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama will battle for gold on Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Bercy Arena in France.
While Wemby and the French squad have homecourt advantage, the Americans have veterans who have won Olympic gold before. This includes LeBron James, who already has two golds from the 2008 and the 2012 Olympics, as well as one bronze from 2004.