Paris 2024 men's basketball: Team USA's journey began two years ago with a Stephen Curry comment

It all began on a plane ride back to San Francisco from Boston, hours after the Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry, won their fourth NBA championship in seven years. Curry remarked to coach Steve Kerr that the only accomplishment left on his personal bucket list was an Olympic gold medal.

And then the Paris 2024 2024 Team USA men's basketball team began to take shape.

Curry had never played at the Olympic Games, whether it be because of injury, fatigue or schedule conflicts, but still in his prime at age 36, he wanted that opportunity. Kevin Durant was aging but he’s an Olympic mainstay so convincing him to return wouldn’t be difficult.

James had not played in an Olympic Games in 12 years, skipping Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. But the itch came back and after watching Team USA finish fourth in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, he began texting his NBA contemporaries about getting the crew together for greatness.

“I knew in the 23 season, (USA Director) Grant (Hill) and Steve came to Brooklyn and tried to get me to play in the World Cup,” said Durant when asked when he decided to play for Team USA again. “I knew how important it was for us to be there for 2024 and I kind of committed there. Last summer LeBron James started texting everybody, giving input on who he thinks should be on the team and if everybody was playing and when he started sending those texts out, I knew we was all gonna get together and it was a special time.

“I knew Steph was going to play, being as though he had never been on an Olympic team before. It was a no-brainer, especially when those two committed. Once the team was built, I kind of knew it was going to be special.”

After Curry made that statement on the trip back to San Francisco, he began thinking more seriously about the commitment and Kerr reminded him that Team USA wasn’t just a couple of weeks with his buddies. It would require extensive engagement.

“When we had our first meeting in Vegas, probably even before that, just (Kerr) talking about representing our country, what this challenge was going to be, being real about how hard it was going to be, no matter how much talent we had,” Curry said. “You have to have humility to prepare for what’s coming. He gave us a lot of inspiration for staying locked in on what the mission is. That daily reminder; we had the picture of the medal on the projector in every meeting we had as a reminder. There was a lot of noise around our team. It’s not an envious position to find minutes for everybody and rotations are hard. I’m glad we won because we accomplished our goal.

“In 2022, when we were coming back from Boston, Steve made a joke that it was the only thing I hadn’t done. So I softly committed there. (In) September, watching the World Cup and understanding it was something I had not done. So if I was healthy, it was something I wanted to do. So yeah, texts started flying and I had two extra months to prepare.”

With James, Durant and Curry on board, this version of Team USA was born. Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, who won an NBA MVP in 2023, was considering playing for Team USA or France. A recent American citizen, he was convinced by Team USA officials to join the team because it needed a third center to join Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo.

There was some controversy, of course, on how the team was constructed. NBA Finals and Eastern Conference Finals MVP Jaylen Brown was passed up twice with roster selection, even when Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard was sent home because of injury concerns. Hill conducted no tryouts, instead choosing the team by invites. Many established NBA players who were interested in playing for Team USA had issues with the process.

But Hill stood strong on his choices and convictions and their depth in talent with Team USA was not for debate. Curry brought a different element to this team, a premium shooter, a great personality, one of the world’s most popular players with a chance to play for his NBA head coach on the biggest stage.

What encouraged Kerr was his older players were also the hardest workers and set examples for younger teammates. Players such as Jayson Tatum, Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Derrick White raved about playing with James, Durant and Curry, witnessing their professionalism and fortitude throughout this two-month experience.

“Steph earned this the last few weeks,” Kerr said. “Every day his work ethic has been incredible. I tell people all the time when Kevin was with our team at the Warriors, my favorite part of practice was afterwards, watching these two work,” he said. “It’s not an accident they are able to do what they do down the stretch. Watching these guys behind the scenes and how hard they work, and how much they love the process of the work as well, it all makes sense they are as good as they are. Steph earned this with how hard he’s worked. I actually wanted to say to him ‘take a day off’ because the work he has put in was incredible.”

Gary Washburn is an Olympic Channel correspondent and National NBA Writer for the Boston Globe.