The USA Men’s Basketball team that will head to Paris for the 2024 Olympics is arguably the most talented in history. The team features 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 truly an unreal level of talent and Team USA recently held its training camp in Las Vegas as they prepare for the Olympics. And despite all of the talent on display, it was somehow still the oldest player there who stood out most.
According to Joe Vardon and Sam Amick of The Athletic, a straw poll was held on who was the best player at camp with LJames winning the vote:
Seventeen-year-old Duke phenom Cooper Flagg might have been the surprise star of Team USA training camp, but the real plot twist was that an NBA legend 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 voted the top national team player in camp in a straw poll of Olympic camp participants conducted by The Athletic.
It is truly unbelievable that with all of the talent on hand, the nearly 40-year old LeBron still stood out as the best player on the court. It truly shows just how special he is, even at this stage of his career.
James’ five votes led the way, but other players did receive votes as well with his Lakers teammate Davis being among them:
The U.S. roster is full of future Hall of Famers and is often compared to the storied 1992 Dream Team, but James won the poll with a plurality of votes cast with five.
Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards and Jrue Holiday each received two votes. Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Bam Adebayo each received one vote.
Just how head coach Steve Kerr is going to figure out the rotations and roles for everyone on this team is going to be very interesting to witness. But ahead of his 22nd NBA season, James has made it clear that he is still amongst the elite this league 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 go anytime he is on the court. And that is something that was very noticeable to Team USA head coach Steve Kerr.
Kerr admitted to being ‘blown away’ by how hard the Lakers superstar practices, even going to assistants Tyronn Lue and Erik Spoelstra, both of whom have coached LeBron in the NBA, and asking them if it was normal. Of course both confirmed that being the case and giving a glimpse to just how hard LeBron works.