PARIS — It’s a bold, presumptuous move to wear shiny gold-colored sneakers to the Olympic basketball final, then have four turnovers in the opening six minutes of the fourth quarter while the host nation fueled by a crazed crowd chanting “Allez Les Bleus” closes an 14-point deficit to three.
Or maybe it wasn’t for LeBron James.
Maybe it’s not if you have Stephen Curry on your team.
France forward Mathias Lessort was asked what they were missing in the 98-87 loss against the Americans on Saturday at Bercy Arena on the banks of the River Seine.
He offered a two-word answer that didn’t require translation:
“Stephen Curry.”
The Golden State Warriors guard had been uncharacteristically quiet through three group games and the quarterfinals, missing 15 of 20 attempts behind international basketball’s 3-point arc despite being 19 inches closer than the NBA’s. Then he erupted for 36 points — 17 in the 10-minute first quarter — to save them in the semifinals against Serbia.
And then he did this in a three-point game Saturday with the gold medal, and James’ integrity, on the line:
Made 3 with 2:47 left.
Made 3 with 1:52 left.
Made 3 with 1:19 left.
And an impossible, preposterous, silly made 3 with 35 seconds left.
“Steph Curry ended up being the difference,” said Steve Kerr, also his coach with the Warriors. “The flurry at the end of the game was just incredible. I’ve seen it a few times, but it never gets old.”
James: “I’ve seen it before, in a different uniform. It’s good to be on his side.”
Devin Booker: “The best shooter to ever live.”
Anthony Edwards: “I was telling him, ‘Bro, you crazy.’ He cold, man, he cold.”
It started with a behind-the-back pass from James to Curry, who took a hard dribble to his right and launched.
During a timeout 25 seconds later, Kerr was trying to figure out how to stem the French insurgency when Curry spoke up: Why not clear a side of the floor for me and have LeBron set a ball screen?
“I said, ‘OK, let’s do that because I’ve seen that before and it usually works out well,’” Kerr said, chuckling. “And then he put on that show. It was pretty amazing to watch.”
The 6-foot-2 Curry dribbled off the ball screen and hit a step-back 3 against 6-8 Nicolas Batum, running back on defense screaming: “No one can guard me, no one can guard me.”
Next possession: France sent a double team at Curry, who rotated the ball and got it back at the top … another 3.
Next possession: Double-teamed and launched a fallaway, rainmaker anyway with four hands in his face, then ran down the floor pressing both palms against his ear in a goodnight gesture.
“We always say, you do what the game calls for,” Curry said. “The game called for me to get shots up and knock them down.”
Even that last one?
“I impressed myself on that one, for sure,” he said. “For sure.”
Soon he was draping an American flag over his shoulders. Soon he was running into the crowd to high-five his kids and kiss his wife. Soon he had a gold medal around his neck, the one thing missing from an otherwise illustrious legacy.
Kerr had projected a picture of the Paris gold medal on the screen to start every meeting as a subtle reminder of the stakes, and the mission. This was the fifth straight gold by the U.S. men, and they improved to 36-1 in those five Summer Games since a bronze in 2004, the lone loss coming in group play three years ago against France.
“We got our moment,” James said. “It’s a basketball world, man. Everybody loves the game. We just hope that we continue to inspire people all over the world and we have great moments like this.”
Kevin Durant became the first men’s player to win a fourth gold and cemented his status as the greatest Olympic player ever from the United States, and probably any country. James, at age 39, got his third. Four players got their second.
France, which also lost to the Americans in the final three years ago, got 26 points from NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, but they’ll rue will rue shooting 10 of 17 from the line (compared with 8 of 8 by the Americans) and 3 of 16 behind the arc in the first half.
Curry finished with 24 points, all on 3s. Durant had 15. James had 14.
Even Jayson Tatum, with two points, seemed content.
The Boston Celtics star didn’t play against Serbia and his mother tweeted: “If you find out what’s going on, please let me know — unacceptable and makes NO SENSE.”
Kerr adjusted his rotation Saturday, starting Durant for the first time and bringing Tatum off the bench for 11 minutes. Tatum admitted being personally frustrated by his playing time but said all the right things about accepting roles and the pride in winning a gold medal less than two months after an NBA championship.
About his mother’s rant, he said:
“No matter how old or young I am, that’s always going to be my mom. She’s been like that. No matter how much fame and money I have, she’s always going to stick up for her son. I would never tell my mom I wished you didn’t say this or that. I’m a parent. I have a son. Your child, things may not go their way or you feel a certain way about that situation as a parent, you voice your opinion.
“And that’s my mom at the end of the day, so I’ve got love and respect for her.”
Miami Heat forward Bam Adebayo was asked how he’ll celebrate a gold medal won against the host nation.
“I don’t know, man, I might walk around with it,” he said. “If I go to a couple Paris restaurants, they might kick me out. I ain’t getting no discount. They might make it more expensive.”
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