France vs USA – Preview for 2024 Olympics Basketball Gold Medal Match

2024-08-10 ScoreWaves Staff

Basketball fans buckle yourselves up because we are in for a thrilling final tonight. Host nation France will take on the mighty USA in the gold medal game at the Bercy Stadium in Paris.

Tonight’s basketball final has all the makings of an instant classic. France will be driven by the desire to avenge their 87-82 loss in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics final, where they narrowly missed out on their first Olympic gold in basketball. However, tonight could be very different. Buoyed by a raucous home crowd, France has the potential to create the perfect storm and pull off an upset.

Having said that, Team USA have looked indomitable so far at the 2024 Olympics. They are gunning for their fifth consecutive Olympics gold medal, and even a raucous French crowd and a stacked French roster may find it difficult to knock the reigning Olympics champions from their perch. So, which team will be able to hold their nerves and clinch a historic gold medal at the 2024 Olympics?

History in the Making

No matter which teams comes out on top, Olympics history will be created. If Team USA takes the gold, they'll become the first nation to win five consecutive Olympic basketball titles. On the other hand, if France wins, it will mark Les Bleus' first-ever gold medal in men's basketball at the Olympics. With both teams motivated to create history, tonight’s final could be one for the ages.

Primary amongst Team USA’s concerns would be Victor Wembanyama. The reigning ROTY (Rookie of the Year) is a generational talent, who has the ability and more importantly the skillset to turn the game on its head. Apart from Wembanyama, Les Bleus also has reigning DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) Rudy Gobert on the roster. However, he has just played eight minutes in the knockout stage.

In Gobert’s place, French head coach Vincent Collet has decided to field a much smaller lineup, and it’s been effective so far. French guards Geurschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier have been the surprise package of the tournament. In fact, Yabusele leads France in scoring at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, Team USA will look to improve on their performance rather than fixating on France. If it weren’t for Stephen Curry’s incredible 36-point performance, they might have been heading home early. But they survived to fight another day. And now they will aim to finish the job tonight.

Kevin Durant to start vs France

Kevin Durant is a player who has won everything there is to win in basketball. He’s truly one of the greats of the game, and the 2024 Paris Olympics could be his last hurray at the international stage. Despite his age, the Slim Reaper is still one of the most important players for Team USA. However, USA head coach Steve Kerr has given him limited minutes, that too off the bench.

But there’s a reason. KD joined the national camp late and hardly trained before the Olympics due to a calf strain. Due to his injury KD has played a reduced role at this year’s Olympics. Despite carrying an injury, Durant has come up big for Team USA during clutch moments. As a result, Kerr has decided to start KD in Jrue Holiday’s place. According to Shams Charania, “Team USA is planning to start all-time leading scorer Kevin Durant vs. France in Saturday's Gold Medal game at the Paris Olympics. Jrue Holiday is expected to come off the USA bench.”

Besides Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum’s place in Steve Kerr’s rotation is up in the air. He has started every game for Team USA except for two—both against Serbia. With a gold medal on the line, Kerr might decide to hand less time to bench players. So, in which category would Tatum fall?