By Aris Barkas / info@eurohoops.net
LILLE, France – During the game vs. South Sudan, LeBron James became the third player in the history of USA Basketball with 300 points or more in the Olympic Games, joining current teammate Kevin Durant and retired four-time gold medalist Carmelo Anthony.
It’s a fine achievement, but James prefers to keep his eyes locked on the gold medal target.
“Oh, not much,” James said when asked what that milestone meant to him. “I mean, at the end of the day, I just want to, you know, win. I mean, I’m here to win and win the gold, and that’s my only mindset. It’s not even about scoring, it’s not about any of the stats, all the stats that pretty much don’t show up, you know, closing out, you know, getting, you know, hockey assists if possible, just stopping guys from crashing the glass. So it’s definitely an honor any time you hear your name in it, in any type of record books, but at the end of the day I’m here for a bigger picture, for sure.”
Team USA dominated South Sudan for the larger part of the game, unlike the close victory in a preparation match between the two sides. Steve Kerr used a different starting lineup this time, including Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker.
“We know that’s part of what the coaching staff may do throughout the course of the tournament,” James said. “So, you know, we know it could be anybody’s number any given night, and it’s not about who starts, it’s not even about who finishes, it’s about when you’re in the game, you know, the minutes that you play, you play at a high level, and I think everybody did that in the minutes they played tonight.”
James also saw many of his teammates contributing heavily coming off the bench. He wasn’t surprised.
“It’s great,” James said. “I mean, you know, we’ve got 12 guys that can go out and get the job done, you know, any given night. And, you know, our second lineup came in and did that tonight for us. Defensively, that’s where it started, and then offensively, they were great as well.”