LeBron James and Steph Curry Lead USA to Victory in Pre-Olympics Exhibition
Las Vegas, NV — LeBron James and Steph Curry made a winning start as USA teammates, leading their team to an 86-72 victory over Canada in a pre-Olympics exhibition game on Wednesday. The game, held in Las Vegas, showcased the synergy between the two NBA superstars, who are part of a formidable USA basketball roster aiming for a fifth consecutive gold medal at the Paris Olympics this month.
James and Curry, playing alongside each other for the first time as international teammates, demonstrated a near telepathic understanding on the court. Curry contributed 12 points, while James added seven, helping the US team recover from an early 11-1 deficit to secure the win in their final home game before heading to Paris.
Next, the team will travel to the United Arab Emirates for exhibition games against Australia and Serbia.
After the victory, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James gathered the USA team for a huddle, reinforcing their position as strong favorites for the gold medal in France.
“We know we can be a lot better, but we’ve only been together four days,” James said. “All the miscues offensively, and the turnovers. We’ll get better with that — but it starts on the defensive end. As long as we defend, we’ll give ourselves a good chance to win every night.”
Curry echoed James’ sentiment, emphasizing the importance of defense for their Olympic campaign. “We can work out the kinks and the timing on offense, but if we compete like that and commit to playing defense, we’ll be fine against anybody,” Curry said.
James, the NBA’s all-time leading points scorer, expressed his enjoyment in teaming up with Golden State star Curry. “We’re just two guys who love to play the game of basketball,” James said. “It’s fun. We play the game at a high level but more importantly, we just play the game that we love the right way.”
Curry added that winning a fifth consecutive gold medal would require a team effort. “We just want to win gold, whatever that takes,” Curry said. “No matter what your stats are, no matter how many minutes you play — if everybody on the floor commits to just doing what you’re asked to do, we’ll be good.”
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