Team USA Basketball’s Clash Against Nikola Jokic, Serbia Highlights Sunday Olympics Slate

LeBron James and Co. will face off against the three-time MVP, but Joel Embiid’s status for the starry matchup is uncertain.

Embiid missed practice with an illness Saturday. / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

Well, that was fun. The official Day 1 of Paris 2024 gave us dramatic swim relays, cycling wipeouts and everything from gymnastics to water polo. 

As Dan Gartland and I discussed on the Day 1 recap show of our podcast, Sports Illustrated’s Daily Rings, the time zone has this looking like a significantly better Olympics experience for fans watching from the U.S. than the Tokyo Games three years ago. Now we’re on to Day 2.

Here’s what I’ll be watching Sunday, July 28.

This is not a comprehensive list; visit Olympics.com for a full schedule. All events will stream live on Peacock. I’ll also be tweeting out a schedule of medal events, Team USA games and other favorites each day.

My Day 2 Olympics viewing guide! #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/TL3OO3CRQ9

— Mitch Goldich 🐙 (@mitchgoldich) July 28, 2024

Basketball

Team USA’s men’s basketball team enters every Olympics with sky-high expectations, even as the rest of the world keeps improving. This year’s squad begins group play at 11:15 a.m. ET against Serbia. That means a battle with Nikola Jokic, who is fresh off winning his third NBA MVP award in four seasons. He is supposed to go head-to-head with U.S. big man Joel Embiid, who won the award in 2023 and was runner-up to Jokic the two years before that. Embiid missed practice with an illness Saturday, though coach Steve Kerr said he is hopeful to have the whole team available. That would include Kevin Durant, who has not played in any of the pre-Olympic tune-up games because of a calf injury. But the team still has plenty of stars fully healthy, from first-time Olympian Steph Curry to LeBron James, Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards.

The U.S. has struggled in its recent exhibition games—with narrow wins over Australia, South Sudan and Germany—but the team is still favored to win its fifth straight gold medal. This will be a good test to start.

Fencing

Saturday was a tough day for U.S. fencing, but Sunday looks like a good opportunity to turn things around. Lee Kiefer is a name familiar to many American Olympics fans, as she is the defending gold medalist in women’s foil. She was the first American to win gold in this event, and is currently No. 1 in the world as she enters her fourth Olympics.

They’ll go through the whole competition bracket in one day, starting very early in the morning with prelims. If she advances, the semis are at 1 p.m. ET and the finals at 3:45 p.m..

Beach volleyball

Plenty of eyes are on beach volleyball, with one of the most scenic venues of these Olympics right at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Team USA’s best duo, Sarah Hughes and Kelly Cheng, will get their Olympic tournament started against a team from the Czech Republic at 4:00 p.m. ET. The pair were teammates at USC, where they won two NCAA championships and ran up a 103-match winning streak. They’ve already won a world championship together and now seek to add an Olympic gold to their joint résumé.

Biles will compete in the qualification round for the women’s all-around final early Sunday. / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Lightning round

• The U.S. women’s gymnastics team will be in action Sunday for the women’s qualification round. Only two gymnasts per country can qualify for the all-around final, and the U.S. already has two Olympic all-around gold medalists (Simone Biles in Rio, Suni Lee in Tokyo). This would normally merit mention much higher in the column, but it should be wrapping up not long after this column is published.

• It’ll be another big day at the pool, when the swimming finals start at 2:30 p.m. ET. A few names to watch: Team USA’s Nic Fink in the men’s 100 breaststroke, USA’s Gretchen Walsh in the women’s 100 butterfly and Frenchman Léon Marchand, who could be the host country’s biggest star with a win in the 400 IM.

• The USWNT will play against Germany at 3 p.m. ET, the same time Canada’s women’s team takes on France (without its head coach).

• The men’s rugby tournament is over, but the women’s rugby tourney is just getting started. The U.S. will play its first two games against Japan at 10:30 a.m. ET and Brazil at 2:00 p.m.

• The men’s skateboarding street final was postponed because of rain Saturday (it is rescheduled to Monday) but the women’s street final is supposed to take place Sunday at 11:00 a.m. ET.

• The women’s cross-country mountain bike race begins at 8:10 a.m. ET.

• And if you have never watched canoe slalom before, check out the women’s kayak single finals at 11:45 a.m. ET. Just trust me.