The USA Men’s Basketball squad that will fly to Paris for the 2024 Olympics is possibly the most talented in history. The club contains Los Angeles Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis as well as the likes of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and Anthony Edwards, among others.
It is certainly an unbelievable level of ability and Team USA recently held their training camp in Las Vegas as they prepare for the Olympics. And despite all of the brilliance on display, it was somehow still the oldest player there who stuck out most.
According to Joe Vardon and Sam Amick of The Athletic, a straw poll was done on who was the greatest player at camp with LJames winning the vote:
Seventeen-year-old Duke sensation Cooper Flagg might have been the surprise hero of Team USA training camp, but the actual plot twist was that an NBA icon more than twice his age, 39-year-old LeBron James, was the best.
James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer who is months away from the start of his 22nd season, was selected the top national team player in camp in a straw poll of Olympic camp participants conducted by The Athletic.
It is almost unbelievable that with all of the skill on hand, the nearly 40-year old LeBron still stood out as the best player on the court. It truly demonstrates just how exceptional he is, even at this stage of his career.
James’ five votes dominated the way, but other players did receive votes as well with his Lakers teammate Davis being among them:
The U.S. roster is loaded of future Hall of Famers and is sometimes compared to the fabled 1992 Dream Team, but James won the poll with a plurality of votes cast with five.
Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards and Jrue Holiday each garnered two votes. Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Bam Adebayo each received one vote.
Just how head coach Steve Kerr is going to work out the rotations and duties for everyone on this team is going to be really entertaining to observe. But ahead of his 22nd NBA season, James has made it plain that he is still amongst the top this game has to offer.
Team USA coach Steve Kerr ‘blown away’ by how hard Lakers’ superstar LeBron James practices
One of the reasons LeBron James stood out so much during the Team USA training camp is because he operates at full tilt anytime he is on the court. And that is something that was very evident to Team USA head coach Steve Kerr.
Kerr admits to being ‘blown away’ by how hard the Lakers superstar practices, even going to assistants Tyronn Lue and Erik Spoelstra, both of whom had coached LeBron in the NBA, and asking them if it was typical. Of course both acknowledged that being the case and gave an insight to just how hard LeBron works.
