By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
The men’s basketball tournament at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 will make sure that fans both at home and in person at venues can witness star power like never before.
The honorable mentions are already huge: FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 MVP Dennis Schroder, Puerto Rico’s leader Jose Alvarado, Japanese sensation Rui Hachimura, Brazil’s dominant frontcourt asset Bruno Caboclo, and a lot more.
Heading to this summer’s Olympic Games, however, there are 10 players you can’t miss on. Here’s the full list with NBA superstars keeping club competitions out of their minds only for a few weeks, fully focusing on securing an unforgettable medal in Paris 2024.
Nikola Jokic – Serbia
Serbia got the job done at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 despite not having Nikola Jokic ready to play, finishing 2nd only behind the World Champs of Germany.
However, it’s undeniable that the Joker isn’t only a show-stealer on the court, but also an unrepleaceble mechanism in the Serbian national team’s offensive flow engine.
Yet to conquer a success with his national team, he still brought home a silver medal in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, when he didn’t have such a superstar status. Eight years in the making, he wants to add an Olympic gold medal to his already legendary resume.
Giannis Antetokounmpo – Greece
After being named (twice) NBA MVP, winning the NBA Championship with the Milwaukee Bucks and representing Greece at both FIBA Basketball World Cup and FIBA EuroBasket, a spot in the Olympic Games was the only thing left to accomplish for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Despite coming off an injury that ruled him out of contention in the 2023-24 NBA Playoffs, he did it all in order to be healthy enough for the Greek national team at the beginning of July. In the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament played at home in Piraeus, he finally made his dream reality.
Now, having to face Spain, Australia, and Canada in Group A in Paris – one of the toughest groups ever since the birth of the basketball tournament at the Olympic Games, in 1936 -, the Greek Freak is called to another successful campaign at the Eiffel Tower’s shadow.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Canada
Taking Canada back to the Olympic Games after 24 years after grabbing the bronze medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup following an unforgettable 3rd-place game against Team USA, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needed to be named MVP of the competition for several analysts.
At the end of the day, he finished with numbers nobody ever averaged for the Canadian national team in the past: 24.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game. As demonstrated in Canada’s road to the Olympic Games in Paris, dropping 23 points in the win over France, he doesn’t want to stop now.
It’s 88 years that the red-and-white North American side hasn’t stepped on the podium in the five-interlaced rings: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may write history once again for Canada.
LeBron James – USA Basketball
LeBron James hasn’t played with USA Basketball for more than a decade now, establishing his legacy once more at the Olympic Games in London 2012 before giving space to others in the summer.
However, wanting to take revenge after his countrymen’s disappointing campaign at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, the Chosen One is taking the leadership baton to lead this astonishing 12-man roster.
Being coached for the first time by Steve Kerr, finally playing alongside Steph Curry, reuniting with Kevin Durant and leading a stacked group with young gems like Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton, a gold medal in Paris would be the sweetest of icings on the cake for LeBron James.
Kevin Durant – USA Basketball
His presence in Paris is still in doubt due to a calf injury that has been conditioning his preparation toward participating in his fourth straight Olympic Games. But Kevin Durant is an easy must-included pick for the Top-10 superstars for this year’s Olympics.
Not only has he been one of the best names out of the most recent generation of NBA absolute superstars, but he is capable of winning NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors while also writing historical chapters in Oklahoma City, Brooklyn, or Phoenix.
The 35-year-old American superstar is also on the verge of entering the history books: with another success in Paris, he would emerge as the first male player ever to win four Olympic gold medals.
Victor Wembanyama – France
It’s Wemby’s world and we’re all living in it, isn’t it? Reading this sentence only a year ago would have caused different reactions: the potential was clearly there, but he really didn’t translate it yet.
However, at the end of a Rookie of the Year campaign with the San Antonio Spurs with 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, things are perceived completely different. Heading to the Olympic Games played at home first in Lille and then under the Eiffel Tower, he’s the guy to watch in France.
Victor Wembanyama’s climb to absolute success also passes from him leading his country to an outstanding gold medal at the Olympic Games. It looks like an impossible work on paper, but there isn’t anybody but the Alien who can stop the American Monstars.
Steph Curry – USA Basketball
It’s difficult to imagine what basketball could have been right now if it wasn’t for Steph Curry and his legacy.
Dominating the scene for several years as leader of the Golden State Warriors, he hasn’t been around Team USA and USA Basketball for a decade. Winning back-to-back gold medals at the FIBA Basketball World Cups in 2010 and 2014, he hasn’t come back to national-team basketball during summers.
On the last time, Steph Curry was there for his country, the American national team won its latest gold medal at a World Cup; after the fiasco in 2023, one of the best point guards ever is eager to win more.
Jamal Murray – Canada
He wasn’t there in Victoria for the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2021; he wasn’t there at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in both Indonesia and the Philippines.
But Jamal Murray simply couldn’t miss the opportunity to represent his country once coming back to the Olympic Games 24 years in the making, classifying as the 7th-best team at Sydney 2000.
Paris 2024 will mark the first occasion he has played under his flag since the FIBA Pan American Games for Men in 2015. Adding backcourt forces to an already stacked roster coached by Jordi Fernandez sounds like the perfect win-win situation for both Jamal Murray and Canada.
Franz Wagner – Germany
The German national team shocked everybody twice in last year’s FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.
First, they eliminated the United States from contention in the Semi-Finals; then, they came out on top in Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena by beating Serbia in the golden final showdown.
Over these two final games, Franz Wagner averaged 20.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, showing how important his contribution was for Gordon Herbert’s team.
Next to his brother, the captain Dennis Schroder and 10/12 of last year’s roster confirmed for the Olympic appointment, the majestic 22-year-old star looks to repeat basketball history for Germany.
Bogdan Bogdanovic – Serbia
Only by taking a look at the last two FIBA Basketball World Cup All-Tournament teams, people would notice the importance of Bogdan Bogdanovic for the Serbian national team.
Out of all the names included in those two Best Starting Fives, he’s the only one capable of making it there in back-to-back fashion. Without Nikola Jokic and Vasilije Micic, he wore the superhero cape.
Forced to miss FIBA EuroBasket 2022, he came back stronger than ever in Manila last year. Without his elimination phase final stretch in Asia last year, Serbia wouldn’t have qualified directly for Paris 2024.
Now, coming off another good individual season in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks, he’s ready to take on the challenge in Group C against USA Basketball, South Sudan, and Puerto Rico.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA, USA Basketball, Getty Images