Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James at last team up on Olympic stage

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Living legends LeBron James (left), Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant will suit up for the 2024 Olympics together.

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PARIS — The next Summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles, where it will out-glitz Hollywood, become soaked in sunshine and no doubt be clogged by freeway traffic.

Those are pretty much the facts. There’s also a safe prediction of what and who won’t be around in 2028.

Let’s realistically imagine this:

LeBron James will be busy in Las Vegas as the controlling owner of the newest NBA franchise.

Stephen Curry will be in California, up the Pacific Coast Highway, teeing off at Pebble Beach.

Kevin Durant? Forever a hooper, he’ll be in a gym somewhere for a pickup game with 9-to-5ers on lunch break.

The evolution of life eventually conflicts with the evolution of basketball, and for three generational talents, advancing age will keep its appointment and force them to find something else to do.

And it won’t be playing on Team USA collectively, because four years from now might as well be eight for three players already on the flip side of 35.

That’s why these Olympics — the first and only with James, Curry and Durant as teammates — represent a turning point in USA men’s basketball and their rich careers.

This one is special, uniting three active legends with a combined 10 NBA championships, seven MVPs and 44 All-Star appearances. These three had to plow through each other for major awards and titles for over a decade. They form a trio constantly engaged in healthy professional competition … and respect for one another.

“Really cool,” is how Curry describes this team-up. “All the battles we’ve had over the course of our career and now we get together to experience this together. It will be the only time this really happens and I know it’ll be worth it.”

James turns 40 in December. Common sense says his greatness will be past tense in 2028. So that nixes any idea of a reunion even if Father Time is gentle with Curry, now 36, and Durant, who turns 36 in two months.

They know this is it.

“We’re the guys that have been playing the most basketball the last five, 10, 15 years,” James said. “KD is going into Year 18. I’m going into Year 75 [laughs]. Steph is where he is. Being in those battles, man, makes this unique.”

So, a question, then:

What took this so long?

Curry makes his Olympic splash

The Olympics aren’t kind to U.S. athletes. The Games roll up once every four years. A swimmer who gets sick during the trials is out. A runner who falls before the finish line at the trials? Out.

A basketball player who changed the game, but has injury issues at the wrong time and year? Sorry.

Curry’s experience with the national team, before now, was restricted to three championships on the FIBA stage.

As for the Olympics, an ankle injury cost him in 2012 (he wasn’t selected anyway), then again in 2016. In 2020, the timing wasn’t right. There were the pandemic protocols, he was up for an extension with the Warriors and wanted to spend time with family. He also declined because he was healthy and didn’t want to risk it.

Therefore, no chances to exchange high fives with James, a fierce yet friendly rival. They stared each other down for championships four times, with Curry taking three.

When USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill reached out to Curry last fall, Curry had to consult someone first — James.

“He was the first person I talked to about this experience,” Curry said, “to see if this is something I’d want to do.”

Chances are Curry would be less enthusiastic about playing had James declined. As for their rivalry?

“It was a healthy resentment to someone who is standing in your way,” Curry said, “but through it all I had the utmost respect for who he is as a person and player and the challenge of trying to beat him and trying to solve that problem every year.

“Now there’s excitement because I get to see a different side of him and the work he puts in, how he approaches practice, the way he talks and communicates,” Curry said. “He gets to see that from me as well.”

At least Curry had three robust seasons with Durant, winning two championships together. But then Durant bounced, defecting to the Brooklyn Nets, in part to have his own team, far away from Curry’s imposing shadow in Golden State.

Through it all, Curry became iconic and beloved and, with his shooting range, one of the most influential players in basketball history. All that. But no Olympic experience.

“It’s obviously something I thought about, and ultimately wanted,” Curry said. “With LeBron and KD aboard, it obviously was an easy decision. And was probably my last chance as well.”

Gold for James in the Golden Years?

He doesn’t need this. He could be anywhere else. He already has two gold medals and three Olympic appearances. But by repping Team USA here in the year he turns 40, James made the right Decision again.

Some reasons why:

James will be the USA flag bearer in Friday’s opening ceremony.

He gets another chance (as if he needs it) to show how dominant he remains 22 years after turning professional.

And he gets another Olympic run with Durant, and a first with Curry.

Take a look at some of LeBron James’ best plays in the USA exhibition games.

That last point proved irresistible. James is busy collecting remaining memories before he calls it quits. What better way than to share such a stage with two of the best players of his generation?

On Curry, James said he looked forward to enhancing their friendship off the court.

“I always knew how much he loves to win and the competitor in him,” James said. “But just being around him, that’s going to be cool. We’ve always had these short moments, mainly at the All-Star Game. But not like this.”

He added: “The game of basketball doesn’t last forever. You don’t want to waste the opportunity to have a relationship with someone. I’m old enough to know the (Larry) Bird and Magic (Johnson) rivalry, but they were friends. I know Magic and Isiah (Thomas) kissed each other before they took the floor. (People) said Michael (Jordan) never talked to any of his opponents, but him and Charles (Barkley) played golf.

“So I don’t want to lose those moments, as much as me and KD went head-to-head, much as me and Steph went head-to-head. I’m able to to be able to appreciate them through this experience.”

LeBron also wants to win. That’s why he’s here, too. If the exhibition games leading to the Olympics were any indication — when he took over in the moment of truth against South Sudan and Germany —  then the best player for the greatest team in the Olympics is the one in his fourth decade on the planet.

That part is important to LeBron, to give himself another legacy nudge.

“Being able to play in the Olympics again and represent your country is always amazing,” James said, “and I’ve been able to win two gold medals and hope to add to it. Winning NBA championships and gold medals are things I’ve accomplished that I’ll always cherish.”

Durant excels on international stage

There’s no debate: Durant has a richer Olympic history than Curry and LeBron, richer maybe than anyone in U.S. history.

He is more devoted, never declining a chance to represent the country in the Olympics. He has proven more skillful, closing out many Olympic games with big plays and buckets. He owns eight Olympic team career records, including the all-time scoring mark. And he has a chance to win a fourth gold, which would put him in a class of one.

That allegiance to one team goes counter to his hop-scotching NBA journey, but it’s important to him.

“The 3-point line is shorter, you play and travel around the world and you’re around the best players and coaches in the league,” Durant said. “Everything that comes with it, I enjoy.”

It might be a minute before the next player matches his Olympic longevity marks; only four players in history have been in three or more Olympics. Again, the Games arrive once every four years. Stuff happens.

As for his medals and records?

“You tend to think about that,” Durant said. “But that never really moved me. The journey is what’s cool, knowing I got these memories in my head that I can lean back and look at at any time. That’s cooler than looking at the medals, championship trophies. That’s stuff I can’t carry around. I can carry around the experiences with me every day.”

And those Olympic experiences will include Curry for the first time and LeBron for the second. But he and Curry were NBA teammates, so James weighs a bit more.

“He meant so much to my career ever since high school,” Durant said. “And still playing at an elite level at 40, that’s inspiring to me as well. Every chance I get to be around ‘Bron, even if it’s to get a quick bite or a random minute, his energy is contagious.”

Because of his addiction to the game, and the need to play it constantly, Durant could make a case for a fifth Olympics.

“Who knows? LeBron four years ago probably thought he wouldn’t play another one. You keep your body in place and see what it goes,” Durant said.

Is the door open for 2028? Durant thought a minute, then had a reality check and admitted:

“I might not do it again.”

A time to teach

Their time is now to go for the gold together. But it’s also time to pave the way for whoever comes next for USA Basketball.

(Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, to name a few.)

“We don’t step on their toes, but continue to set a standard of excellence for them and show them what it’s all about,” James said. “To see if they can be great as long as they want to be.”

Durant was like them in 2012, his first Olympics after leading Team USA in the 2010 World Championships. He learned from Kobe Bryant, among others. And he agreed: It’s better to give the next group some space.

“Let them soak it in and learn from their perspective,” Durant said. “These guys have been excited to be in this moment for a while, so I’m not going to get in the way and tell them everything. I don’t give advice like that. They’ll have to experience it themselves.”

As eager as those first-timers are — all of them emerging great players — they might take a back seat in Paris to the three oldest on the team.

“It’s awesome, the fact that we’re at this stage of our careers,” James said, “and still able to compete at a high level.”

What Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant want most from the 2024 Olympics, besides the top step on the podium, is rocking chair material for the near future.

As Durant said:

“Him, me, Steph, the conversations we’re going to have are going to be incredible.”

* * *

Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.

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