Five basketball stars from Paris 2024 to watch during the 2024-25 NBA season
Fans tuning into the NBA this season will recognise some familiar faces who excelled at the Olympic Games in 2024.
Basketball
The men's Olympic basketball tournament at Paris 2024 was one for the ages, with fans spoiled with the amount of talent on display through two weeks of action at the Games.
Fortunately, hoops addicts will now have the chance to watch the same players who stole the show in France suit up for their respective NBA teams at the start of the 2024-25 season on 22 October.
Below are five players who left their mark on Paris 2024 that are definitely worth watching in 2024-25.
LeBron James, USA and Los Angeles Lakers
Paris 2024 stats: 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.3 blocks per game | Gold medal | Most Valuable Player award | All-Star Five
Where else to start than with the "King"?
At the tender age of 39, the ageless wonder that is LeBron James proved at the Games that he remains one of the best players in the world, picking up the MVP award and a third Olympic gold medal.
It says something about James' athleticism that despite not being able to reach the Mach-9 speeds and absurd leaps he once possessed as an 18-year-old phenom, he still threw down a number of big-time dunks and swats throughout the tournament, and will most likely continue to do so until the day he decides to hang up his sneakers for good.
But the real joy in watching James play at this juncture of his career is his ability to control the game. The four-time NBA champion displayed every ounce of the experience and wisdom gained from a 21-year career in the league to help the USA come from behind against Serbia in the Paris 2024 semi-finals and outlast France in the gold medal game. In that 95-91 victory over Serbia, James registered the second triple-double of his Olympics career, with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Expect to see that stellar game management (and a few more spectacular highlights) from James this season with the Lakers.
Victor Wembanyama, France and San Antonio Spurs
Paris 2024 stats: 15.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.7 blocks per game | Silver medal | All-Star Five
The 7-foot-4 Frenchman followed up his sensational Rookie of the Year debut in the NBA last season with a special effort at the Olympic Games. He led France in points (15.8), rebounds (9.7), assists (3.3), steals (2.0), and blocks (1.7) per game as Les Bleus claimed silver after a titanic battle against the USA in the gold medal game.
Wembanyama's physical profile was a sight to behold at the Games. The 20-year-old utilised every inch of his 8-foot wingspan to defend the rim and finish any lob thrown his way. But what makes him so special is his ability to pass, shoot, and dribble as well as he does, which is a rarity for players of his height. Moreover, Wembanyama has already warned opponents that he's "learning" and they should be "worried", which is as sure a sign as any that the 20-year-old means business heading into the new season. If you need further evidence of why you should follow his career, 77 per cent of NBA GMs chose Wembanyama as the player they would want to sign if they were starting a franchise today.
Nikola Jokic, Serbia and Denver Nuggets
Paris 2024 stats: 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.0 blocks per game | Bronze medal | All-Star Five
If you need an idea of just how good Jokic was in Paris, the three-time NBA MVP ranked first in total points, rebounds, and assists, becoming the only player in Olympics history to do so.
While the 2022-23 NBA champion was unable to lead Serbia past the USA in the semi-finals, he was instrumental in taking the Eagles to the bronze medal thanks to a triple-double effort (19 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) in Serbia's 93-83 win over Germany in the third-place game.
Regular viewers of the NBA will be accustomed to Jokic's triple-double performances, an exceptionally hard feat to achieve but one that the 29-year-old seems to accomplish every other game (he's currently fourth in the all-time leaderboard in that category with 130 regular season triple-doubles). If you want to watch how to play the game the "right" way, watch Jokic and the Nuggets.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada and Oklahoma City Thunder
Paris 2024 stats: 21.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks per game | All-Second Team
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of Team Canada
Gilgeous-Alexander was another NBA star who got their first taste of Olympic basketball at Paris 2024, and while Canada failed to replicate their stunning podium finish at the 2023 FIBA World Cup (where they won bronze), a quarter-final exit to eventual silver medallists France is nothing to be ashamed of.
Gilgeous-Alexander, for his part, was every bit as spectacular as he was in the NBA in 2023-24, averaging 21 points to go along with 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks and 4 assists per game. The 26-year-old is so good, in fact, that he's the NBA GM's favourite to collect the NBA MVP award this season with 40 per cent of the vote.
Guerschon Yabusele, France and Philadelphia 76ers
Paris 2024 stats: 14.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.5 steals, 0 blocks per game | Silver medal | All-Second Team
Looking at Yabusele's stat line from the Olympics, you may rightly wonder why the Frenchman was named to the Paris 2024 All-Second Team by FIBA.
But if you watched any of Les Bleus' games from the tournament, you'd have immediately recognised just how integral the 6-foot-8 forward was to France winning silver.
Yabusele shone in the quarter-final win over Canada, utilising his strength to pour in 22 points on 66.7 per cent shooting, drawing countless fouls from Canadian defenders as they were unable to stop him from getting to the hoop.
The 28-year-old was arguably even more impactful in the final against the USA, scoring 20 points and unleashing a monster dunk over LeBron James that threatened to blow the roof off of Bercy Arena. That single play energised a partisan home crowd to a fever pitch, and France almost rode that wave all the way to the gold medal only to be undone by the heroics of LeBron James and Steph Curry.
Yabusele's performances at the Games also caught the eye of the Philadelphia 76ers, who signed him to a deal on 29 August. Yabusele is now back in the NBA following a two-year stint with the Boston Celtics from 2017 to 2019.