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LeBron James Reveals Team USA ‘Went at Each Other’ in Practice After Barely Beating South Sudan by 1 Point
LeBron James recently shared the story of the nail-biting exhibition game where Team USA faced off against South Sudan.
In the most recent episode of "The Shop," which was taped in Paris in 2024 for the Olympics, LeBron James disclosed Coach Steve Kerr’s response to Team USA’s narrow victory in their opening game against South Sudan. James stated that Kerr criticized the players for their performance during the post-exhibition match practice, which took place in London prior to the Olympics.
"Coach wasn't happy about our performance the first time we played South Sudan, so he kind of got on us, and we went at each other during practice," LeBron said. It would have been a historic upset if LeBron James hadn't made the game-winning layup in the last eight seconds to put Team USA up 101-100 against South Sudan in their exhibition match.
James also discussed his thoughts during the closing moments of the game that enabled him to make the winning plays in that episode. "I slow it down as well. I try to be patient, not to overexert myself, not to predetermine what I'm going to do, and just kind of read and react. It's still read and react even with the clock going 9-8-7-6...," LeBron said.
He added, "If you had a stopwatch, those seconds are ticking—they look like they're going fast, but for some odd reason on the basketball court, for me, when the time looks like it's going fast, it's actually slowing down. So I'm able to slow it down and see what's going on on the floor."
The closest any team came to beating the legendary Team USA was in the exhibition match against South Sudan. Team USA went on to win gold for the fifth time in a row by going undefeated throughout their 2024 Olympic campaign in Paris.
After becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer, LeBron James said that his third Olympic gold felt the best of them all as the U.S. defeated France 98-87 in the championship game. After a 12-year break, the Los Angeles Lakers star made his Olympic comeback, scoring 14 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out six assists as Team USA secured their fifth consecutive gold medal in men's basketball.
With James back on the team and four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry making his tournament debut, the U.S. defeated France in the Olympic final for the second time in a row.
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