LeBron James will turn 40 in December. He has been in the NBA for so long that his Los Angeles Lakers have just drafted his son Bronny to play alongside him this year. Yet after the Americans were humbled with a fourth-placed finish in last year’s World Cup he has led the charge for a ridiculously gifted team of stars to coalesce for one last job.
It is a special kind of pressure on the American basketball team, the presumed eternal Olympic champions. It is not enough to win, they must do it convincingly. Shaquille O’Neal, a gold medallist in 1996, said this week he was not watching this Games as he was unimpressed with America’s narrow margin of victory against South Sudan in a tune-up game. “If they don’t win by 20, I’m not impressed by it.”
Shaq may not have liked how France stuck around in this game but James’ ability to seize the limelight even in such exalted company was almost voyeuristically magnetic. He wore new gold shoes for the occasion, which felt a touch presumptuous. He played as if trying to prove a series of points about himself, like an evil Dad.
Yet France stayed within reach until the final moments, ebbing away the American lead to three points at one stage. Until Curry took control, a man too brilliant to be denied, even by a gigantic obstacle.
