Lakers News: LeBron James Names Favorite Teams Left in Olympic Quarterfinals

LeBron James makes his opinion known on his favorite teams left in the Olympics.

Aug 3, 2024; Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; United States guard LeBron James (6) blocks Puerto Rico center Ismael Romero (28) in the fourth quarter during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

With the defeat of Puerto Rico, Team USA heads into the quarter finals for Men's Basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the No. 1 seed.

Multiple countries have come and gone. Now, we are down to the final eight: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Serbia, and, of course, USA.

According to a report from Sam Amick of The Athletic, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James recently shared his favorite teams at the Olympics with reporters, with some surprising answers.

“There’s a lot of great teams right now,” James shared. “Obviously Canada, Germany. I like the battle Greece has had. You know, Serbia, we had them in our group play. We know what they’re capable of. Australia advanced as well. Australia. So there’s a lot of great teams.”

However, one French reporter noticed that one country was suspiciously missing: France. Naturally, the reporter wanted to know what James thought.

“Um, I’ve been impressed,” James said. “Um, you know, I wasn’t very impressed with their last game. I didn’t think they was ready for the physicality of Germany. But other than that, they’ve been playing some good ball.”

Currently, France is tied with the fourth-best record at the Olympics, having lost to Germany. The other teams joining USA with a perfect record are Germany and Canada. Serbia, who has NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on their roster, shares a 2-1 record with France. Greece, Australia, and Brazil all have a 1-2 record.

Team USA is set to face off against Brazil in the quarterfinals. While they haven't been quite as impressive as Germany and Canada, they still should not be underestimated.

“Yeah, I mean we’ve seen almost everybody,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “We haven’t seen Brazil though, and that’s our focus. The other teams, we saw Australia, Serbia, twice Germany, they’re all excellent teams well coached and but Brazil is our focus. So we’ve got to be ready. I know they made 18 threes yesterday, they’re the best offensive-rebounding team in the tournament."

Their star is power forward Bruno Caboclo, who has been averaging 13 points per game so far and 7.3 rebounds. He played in the NBA for seven years before putting his focus on Europe.

Brazil also boasts the oldest player at the Olympics, point guard Marcelo Huertas. The 41-year-old played with the Lakers from 2015-2017.

Team USA's game against Brazil is on Tuesday August 6, at 12:30 p.m. PST/3:30 p.m. EST.

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