LeBron James and Stephen Curry lived up to the expectations at the Paris 2024 Olympics by leading Team USA all the way to the gold medal. Both have played a pivotal role in the triumph, though The King was given the MVP award.
“It’s an honor. I don’t know who the voting committee, or whatever the case may be, but super-humbled that they even voted for me,” James said, via Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “But it came with us winning gold and that’s what’s more important for me. It’s pretty cool.”
James winning the Olympics MVP award took many by surprise as Steph finished the tournament with a couple of strong performances to emerge triumphant in the semifinal and in the gold medal match.
Following a slow start to the basketball competition, Curry stepped up when it mattered the most as he recorded an impressive 36 points in a hard-fought semifinal against Nikola Jokic’s Serbia.
Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant of Team United States pose for a photo during the Men’s basketball medal ceremony on day fifteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France.
The Chef followed that outstanding night with a 24-point outing in the final against France, but it still wasn’t enough to beat James in the battle for the MVP prize. And there might be a surprising explanation for this.
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According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, voting for the Olympics MVP award was held two days before the semifinals. That may explain why James finished with more votes than Curry, who didn’t stand out until the semis.
“The Olympics MVP is so new, this is only the second time they have done it in the modern era that it’s not something that the people even think about really,” Windhorst said, via Basketball Network.
“I’m not even sure there’s a trophy. I asked, ‘How is the MVP chosen?’ Then I was told that it’s media voting, which the media could vote on, there was a QR code allegedly on the wall. They opened the voting like two days before the end of the semifinals. But I was told, ‘Media voting and FIBA experts.’”
