SI

The Moment Steph Curry Told LeBron James He'd Be Team USA Flag Bearer Was Special

James is the first men's basketball player to carry the flag for Team USA.

Tim Capurso

LeBron James finds out he will be the flag-bearer for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
LeBron James finds out he will be the flag-bearer for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. / Screengrab Twitter @usabasketball
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Four-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist LeBron James was voted by his fellow Olympians to be the men's flag bearer for Team USA during the Paris Games' opening ceremony on Friday.

USA Basketball, for which James is making his fourth Olympic appearance, found the perfect way to inform the Akron, Ohio, native of the special honor.

Golden State Warriors star, longtime rival and now-Olympic teammate Stephen Curry nominated James for the honor, then announced to James—and the rest of their teammates—that he had received it. Below you'll find video of the moment from USA Basketball's X, formerly Twitter, account.

"You got that honor, so you get to wave the flag in Paris, my man," Curry said as the room broke out into applause and James smiled.

Moments after, an "appreciative" James spoke to reporters about the honor.

"It's special in the fact that ... to get the opportunity to represent your country," James said. "And in another fashion ... I understand how prestigious this moment is and for someone to be the flag-bearer and wave the flag for not only us as a men's national team, but for all the Olympians, I hold that with the utmost honor."

"It's definitely something that my family and my community and my friends, it's something that will live on forever. Super appreciative and super humbled by it."

James, third on the U.S. men's national team's all-time scoring list, has won three medals in his Olympics career. He took home a bronze in 2004 at Athens and a pair of gold medals in 2008 at Beijing and 2012 at London. He is the first men's basketball player to carry the flag for Team USA.

The women's flag bearer for Team USA will be announced on Tuesday.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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