Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: Team USA men's wheelchair basketball takes historic gold
The United States became the first men's wheelchair basketball team ever to win three gold medals at the Paralympics. Team USA won gold with a 73-69 win over Great Britain at Bercy Arena in Paris on Saturday, 7 September.
As he has done throughout the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Steve Serio led Team USA to the win. He scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out eight assists for the win. Serio said that these would be his final Paralympics. His play is a huge reason why the United States’ men’s team has dominated over the past decade. He retires with three Paralympic golds, one bronze and five world championship medals.
“This is what dreams are made of, man. The totality of the journey, how much this team has grown up together. We’ve won together, we’ve lost together. To cap off my Team USA career with a win like this, with 12 athletes that I love and a great staff behind me, this is what dreams are made of,” Serio said to NBC after the win.
But Serio hardly got the win by himself. Jake Williams led Team USA with 26 points, and Trevon Jenifer added 14. While Brian Bell didn’t score as many points as he has in previous games, he was all over the court and made a remarkable difference on defense.
Serio said that the team’s depth and chemistry is what makes them special.
“Any given day, it can be any athlete. We know that we go 12-deep. I read somewhere once that the secret of basketball is not basketball. It’s about the relationships you’ve built. These guys. We bleed together, we sweat together, we work together. We fail together, and today we won together,” he said with a big smile.
The win caps off a magical run through Paris for the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team. The U.S. won all three of their games in group play, and then won the quarterfinal and the semifinals with an average of 36 points. Now, they get to return home as the most successful men’s wheelchair basketball team of all time.
Jake Williams of Team United States shoots during the during the Wheelchair Basketball - Men's Gold Medal Match between Team Great Britain and Team United States on day ten of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Bercy Arena on September 07, 2024 in Paris, France.
Great Britain wins men’s wheelchair basketball silver
Great Britain did not make it easy for the U.S. Though Team USA led by as many as 12 points, ParalympicGB’s three-point shooting kept the game close throughout the fourth quarter. Gregg Warburton, one of the best British players throughout the Paralympics, scored 15 points while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Lee Manning used his size to thwart the U.S. in the paint, scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.
Like the U.S., Great Britain went undefeated in pool play and won by big margins in the knockout rounds. This is the first non-bronze medal won by the British team since Atlanta 1996. Though they have not yet won a gold, they have shown they belong among the best wheelchair basketball programs in the world.
Earlier on Saturday, Germany won bronze with a 75-62 win over Canada. Thomas Boehme scored 36 points to lead the German team to the win. Canada’s Patrick Anderson, a six-time Paralympian, scored 31 points in what he expects to be his final Paralympic Games.