PARIS — The ball bounced off the rim five times.

Five!

Stephen Curry came off that brick-house screen from Joel Embiid late in the fourth quarter, with Serbian guard Ognjen Dobrić running into the wall as if he were Wile E. Coyote and crumpling to the floor, and the greatest shooter of all time fired a shot from up top that might as well have landed on a craps table.

With just 144 seconds left to play in this FIBA-style game where the clock is no one’s friend, it fell through the net to give Team USA a lead for the first time since midway through the first quarter. Eventually, Team USA pulled off one of the most stunning comebacks ever by somehow surviving a 17-point deficit against Serbia, 95-91, en route to the Olympic gold-medal game against France. Eventually, we’ll come to truly appreciate how close this squad — with names like LeBron James, Curry, Kevin Durant and so many more all-time talents on board — came to a level of infamy that would have surpassed the 2004 team that took bronze in Athens and inspired a reckoning within the national program as a result.

STEPHEN. CURRY. TEAM USA LEADS.#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC, USA Network and Peacock pic.twitter.com/C4MUUl1v78

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2024

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Phew.

I honestly don’t know what else to say.

When you cover international tournaments such as the Olympics, there is a level of support from some non-American media for their respective teams that is, to be honest, quite off-putting. Some reporters cheer on press row, which is considered a no-no in the United States, and others even shout disparaging things at American players like Joel Embiid (true story).

But to watch these Americans walk up to the edge like they did, and to anticipate the sort of scrutiny that was headed their way from people like yours truly if they fell short, was to quietly hope that shots like Curry’s late 3 would fall. It’s a dynamic that simply doesn’t exist in the NBA, one that’s born out of the reality that you know one group of humans so much better than the others. And when Curry finished the job, stealing that pass from Bogdan Bogdanović and going coast-to-coast for a left-to-right layup that put Team USA up 91-86 with 1:01 left, there was a sense of relief that the Golden State Warriors star had finally had a moment in his debut Summer Games.

As Team USA coach Steve Kerr shared afterward, Curry had the look of a player who was pressing coming in. He scored in single digits in three of Team USA’s four Olympic games while averaging a whopping 7.3 points in the first four, with the lone highlight of his first Olympics experience being the exhibition game against Serbia on July 17 in which he scored 24 points.

That was child’s play compared to this one. Curry was unconscious, finishing with 36 points while hitting 12 of 19 shots and burying nine of 14 3s in all.

You know how many times he has hit that many 3s on 14 or fewer attempts in his entire storied career? Nine, according to Stathead.com, and that includes 1,103 games in all between regular season and playoffs (0.8 percent of the time). As a relevant reminder, these games are 40 minutes long and not the 48-minute affairs we see in the NBA. The fact that it came in a game in which Team USA was in such desperate need of a hoops hero made it all the more epic.

“There were times these last couple weeks where I thought (Curry) was working too hard,” said Kerr, the Warriors coach who has had his front-row seat to Curry’s greatness for a decade. “He just cares so much, works so hard at his game constantly. We all know who he is, what he’s about, and I almost wanted to tell him, ‘Hey, take a day off,’ But it’s just not who he is. He works so hard, and he willed himself to that game tonight over the past couple weeks with the work he’s put in.”

Curry, the 36-year-old who had still managed to enjoy this Olympic experience to the fullest off the floor, insisted the walls weren’t closing in.

“I didn’t feel (pressure) at all, because we were winning by … 15, 20 every game,” he said. “I know that I affect the game in other ways. But about two minutes into the game tonight, we realized that I’m getting looks, that they were playing a different type of defense on us. Obviously, they were scoring crazy on the other end, so you just keep going and get lost in the moment.

“It’s whatever the game calls for. I shot three times last game (in a rout of Brazil), and I wasn’t looking to force it, because that’s not what the game called for. So that’s the beauty of Team USA and FIBA and this whole experience. Every game has been somebody different.”

Still, to hear Curry’s side of the story was to realize this role has been a massive adjustment for him. While he entered the Serbia game shooting just 35.7 percent from the field and 25 percent from three (5 of 20), he had also averaged just seven shots per game. That context, the reality that this team makes it so challenging for so many great players to find a way to play like they do with their NBA squads, is often lost in the discussion.

“I haven’t had many opportunities,” Curry said so plainly. “I haven’t shot the ball well the whole tournament, but it doesn’t waver your confidence to meet the moment.”

And did he ever.

When one of the greatest basketball games of all time was over, James — who was a part of the ’04 team the USA Basketball program would rather everyone forget — threw the ball into the air and looked down to find Curry waiting to hug him with unbridled joy. It was a surreal scene in every way, the sight of these two NBA rivals sharing the kind of memory no one could have imagined when their Cavs and Warriors teams were battling for all those years in the finals.

So, I asked James, where does this game rank in terms of sheer emotion?

“I mean, it’s up there,” said James, the four-time champion and Los Angeles Lakers star whose triple-double (16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists) played a massive part in the win. “I mean, I’m 39 years old, going into my 22nd season. I don’t know how many opportunities or moments I’m gonna get like this, to be able to compete for something big and play in big games.”

This game was bigger than big. It was downright magical, with all this history tied up between the players who matter most falling by the wayside for the sake of their national pride. Just listen to Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns star who won two championships with Curry in Golden State and sounded like he’d never seen anything like this before.

“Steph, man, that was a God-like like performance,” said Durant, who forced Bogdanović into a crucial backcourt violation with 1:34 left and hit a nasty jumper with 34 seconds remaining that put Team USA up 93-89. “Dang, (Curry) was tough. He felt like he was struggling throughout the whole tournament, and we always said each night it could be somebody different (every game). And tonight, he showed up in a way that, man…”

Durant almost couldn’t find the words.

“Shot after shot, getting a steal and then finishing with the layup,” he said. “He was everywhere tonight. It was one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen him play.”

Required Reading

(Top photo of Stephen Curry and Aleksa Avramović: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

Editor’s note: The White Sox have fired manager Pedro Grifol, the team announced Thursday morning.

OAKLAND, Calif. — It was two hours before first pitch, and Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol sat in his office this week as he would before any other game. As his scuffling club prepared to face the Oakland Athletics, he settled in behind his desk, in uniform, and projected a sense of calm that belied his predicament.

On the day he was hired, in November of 2022, Grifol flashed the intensity of a baseball coaching lifer, a quality that helped him land the job. “We’re going to prepare every night to kick your ass, and that’s just what we’re gonna do,” Grifol said, a comment that has since gone viral because there have been precious few ass-kickings delivered by the White Sox. In this second year at the helm, Grifol is 89-190. And on this day, with his team on a 20-game losing streak, the conversation brought all the expected questions about his job performance.

In the public discourse, the end of his tenure has been referred to as a question of when, not if. Sitting back in his chair, Grifol politely introduced himself. For the next 10 minutes, he was at times thoughtful, acknowledging the desperate desire to win a game. When asked about a radio report that claimed Grifol had pinned all the losing on his players — part of a motivational tactic gone wrong earlier this season — his denial indicated a firm sense of the demands of leadership.

“What coach or manager in their right mind would try to separate themselves from adversity?” Grifol said. “When you’re in a group setting, when you’re all in this thing together. … It’s not my personality, it’s not who I am.”

But at other times, he flashed an edge.

When asked if he felt the talent in his clubhouse was better than the team’s record, Grifol said, “I’m not going to answer that question. What’s behind that question?”

When asked if he felt the conversation surrounding his team wasn’t fair, Grifol said: “I don’t read (the) media. I don’t have social media. So that’s a tough question. I know where we’re at as a team. I know where we’re trying to go, and what we’re trying to get accomplished. But as far as what’s happening out there, I can just imagine it.

“I’m not avoiding anything because I don’t hear the noise. I come here to work with the players.”

Just hours later, those same players would tie an American League record with their 21st consecutive loss. And though they’d come back the next day to end the losing streak, it proved to be a temporary reprieve.  On Wednesday, the White Sox left Oakland on the heels of another loss, a 3-2 defeat that dropped them to 61 games below .500, 15 games worse than any other big league team.

With the season entering the homestretch, the White Sox remain on track to break one of baseball’s most dubious records.

In 1962, in the first year of their existence, the New York Mets did what no club had done in baseball’s modern era. In a single season, they lost a staggering 120 games. The 2024 White Sox are on pace to lose 123 games. They’ll need to win 15 of their next 45 games to avoid tying the Mets’ ignominious mark. It won’t be easy.

The rest of the season is now a race to avoid infamy, one that has become a national storyline, though the beleaguered manager seems taken aback by the scrutiny.

“This is a close-knit group,” Grifol said. “Here, you come from the outside, and nobody knows you.”

In 2023, when Chicago was expected to compete, their abysmal record necessitated a trade deadline sell-off. A year later, a team that began with low expectations has found a way to massively underperform, with a roster littered with hitters who have failed to live up to their career numbers. Luis Robert Jr. hit 38 home runs last year; he has just 12 this season. Andrew Benintendi was an All-Star two years ago; this season his OPS+ is 70.

Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets, Nick Senzel and the recently traded Eloy Jimenez have all disappointed. Meanwhile, Robbie Grossman and Kevin Pillar struggled earlier in the year with the White Sox but have vastly improved with their new teams.

All this failure begs the question: Where is this all headed, and what is the plan to right the ship?

White Sox general manager Chris Getz, a 40-year-old former player, was elevated into his position late last season after the dismissal of longtime executives Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn. He hammered home the idea of getting back to contention, called this season the first year of a “multi-layered, multi-year project” and boasted about what he believes is growth in the organization’s pitching department.

“We made a pretty strong run at the major-league level with some of our starting pitchers — for two months time being at the top of the American League with our starters,” Getz said in an interview this week. “That is not something I think many people believed we were going to be able to accomplish.”

Yes, there was a stretch where the team’s starting pitching excelled, however, as a whole the staff has accomplished very little. The White Sox team ERA is 4.83, better than only the Colorado Rockies.

This season is more painful than anyone expected, Getz acknowledged. He knows it’s hard to watch. He came in unproven, and his previous work as the club’s director of player development hadn’t yielded many positive results. But as a GM, he believes the organization is in a better place now, overall, than when he inherited it.

“At the end of the day, nobody’s going to feel or believe that we’re building toward something until it shows up in the win-loss record,” Getz said. “That’s the reality of our sport. That’s the reality of fan bases. Until that happens, there’s going to be a high level of skepticism.

“But for those of us that are living under the hood and understand this multi-layered project in front of us, they understand that this is part of the process that was set out.”

Many of those fans questioning the rebuild’s credibility also don’t believe that owner Jerry Reinsdorf will ever fully invest what’s needed to build the White Sox into a sustainable winner. After all, the most expensive contract in White Sox history is the $75 million that Andrew Benintendi earned before last season.

White Sox GM Chris Getz. (Kamil Krzaczynski / USA Today)

When asked if Reinsdorf would eventually increase his financial investment, Getz answered definitively: “Yes.”

“There’s going to be times when we’re going to have to tap into some financial resources to go after free agents, or pour infrastructure and technology and continue to expand and strengthen our front or departments throughout the organization,” Getz said.

“That’s all part of this plan that’s in place.”

That plan seems hard to envision, especially as the disheartening losses pile up, though like most big-league teams the White Sox don’t let on. This week, the clubhouse functioned like almost any other around the league. Before the game, players occupied themselves with card games or their phones. The mood was light. Even the quiet after Monday’s game seemed typical for a big league team. Whether a team is in first place — or in the running for worst team ever —  there is mostly silence.

The most obvious difference: In this clubhouse, and with this team, the players are being asked to explain what feels almost inexplicable.

“We’re handling it fine, as best as we can,” outfielder Corey Julks said quietly. “We’ve got to rally as a team.”

The trade deadline similarly gave cold comfort to those hoping to see Chicago’s plan substantively advance. The White Sox were universally criticized for their return in a three-team trade that netted Miguel Vargas and two 19-year-old prospects for Erik Fedde, Tommy Pham and Michael Kopech.

Getz said he knew ahead of time the trade might be criticized. But he said he remains very happy with the return and hopes it can represent an organizational shift.

“Obviously, that’s why I’m here,” Vargas said. “I’m trying to bring that LA energy, trying to bring that here. Have that culture … trying to bring that here, that energy to be able to, in the future, have success.”

Vargas left a first-place club and joined one that was, at the time, on a 15-game losing streak.

In the days following, the toll of talking to the media about the club’s struggles was evident in its players.

“We just haven’t scored as many runs as the other team has for 20 games in a row,” pitcher Garrett Crochet said before a game this week.

When asked, probably not for the first or last time, about the anxiety of avoiding an all-time loss record, he said: “I’m done with this interview.”

John Brebbia, a 34-year-old workhorse reliever in his first season with the White Sox, is the oldest and most veteran player on the roster, and he believes the talent is better than the record. He understands the concerns over finishing with a worse record than the ‘62 Mets.

“It’s fair, it should be asked,” Brebbia said. “If it’s trending that way, we’re gonna get asked about it. It’s part of the job. I can’t speak for everyone’s motivation. But from my perspective, it looks like everyone shows up and wants to win as much as possible.”

But outside the lines, the White Sox have become a sideshow. Even the team-run postgame show has piled on with criticisms.

Prior to Grifol’s hiring, Ozzie Guillen reportedly was one of several candidates interviewed by the organization. His ties to the White Sox run deep, both as a player and later as the manager during Chicago’s World Series championship in 2005. He ultimately was not selected for a reunion and now serves as an analyst. After a recent loss, Guillen brought up the team’s choice of Grifol, and quipped on air: “I don’t think I was that bad a manager.”

The fans, too, have seen enough. Paper bags have become part of the standard uniform for some White Sox loyalists who still show up for games. In Oakland, in the stands behind the visiting dugout, White Sox fan Matt Verplaetse bought a ticket and sat alone. He wore a T-shirt that displayed what has long been a common refrain among the fanbase: “Sell the team Jerry.”

Verplaetse grew up in the Chicago area and has since moved to Northern California. He likes baseball and remains a die-hard fan, though he was still self-aware enough to poke fun at his attendance.

There is a lot to ask about the franchise’s future. The legitimacy of their long-term plan — and the quality of staff and players they’ll be able to bring in — are chief among them. But for now, over the final 45 games, Verplaetse has zeroed in on perhaps the most important question.

“I think everyone, going in, expected it to be pretty bad,” he said. “But (they) never predicted it being this bad. And now, it’s almost a morbid curiosity.

“How bad is it going to get?”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Getty Images / David Berding, Lachlan Cunningham)

Former Tottenham and Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino is a top target for the U.S. men’s national team opening, according to multiple sources briefed on the coaching search.

The sources said that the federation was still considering multiple candidates as of last week, but Pochettino is seen by some as the favorite in the pool, and U.S. Soccer is engaged in conversations with his camp.

U.S. Soccer has declined to comment on any specific candidates for the job.

Hiring Pochettino would be seen as a huge splash, especially at a time the U.S. fanbase is looking for a big-name manager. The Argentine has never managed a national team, but has had plenty of success at club level. He guided Southampton to an eighth-place finish in the Premier League in 2013, achieved record league finishes with Spurs, including a Champions League final appearance in 2019, and secured a Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain. Most recently, Pochettino led Chelsea to a sixth-place finish and European qualification before departing at the end of the 2023-24 season.

U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker and Pochettino overlapped during the Argentine coach’s year at Southampton. Crocker led Southampton’s academy at the time, and left in November 2013 to join the Football Association.

Argentine outlet Olé previously reported Pochettino was a candidate for the job.

While it is possible that U.S. Soccer could make and announce a hire before the September window, the federation is planning to have former U.S. under-20 men’s national team coach and current USMNT assistant Mikey Varas to lead the senior team in friendlies against Canada and New Zealand on September 7 and September 10, respectively, according to sources briefed on the program’s planning.

The USMNT have been without a coach since firing Gregg Berhalter after a group-stage exit in the Copa América this summer. Berhalter served as the manager from December 2018 through to December 2022, taking the U.S. back to the World Cup after they failed to qualify for the tournament in 2018, and then again from June 2023 until July 2024.

The U.S. fell flat in the Copa, beating Bolivia in their opening group game before losing to Panama after playing a man down for more than an hour following a red card to winger Tim Weah. The U.S. then lost 1-0 in the group finale to Uruguay.

GO DEEPER

Pochettino’s Chelsea departure won’t see him left on the scrapheap

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Pochettino would be the highest-profile coach of the U.S. since Jurgen Klinsmann, a World Cup winner. While Klinsmann coached the German national team and Bayern Munich before taking on the U.S. job, his fame came more from his on-field accomplishments as a player. Pochettino has made his name as a manager, with teams that use positional play to try to dominate space, but that also like to press and attack opposition.

The 52-year-old will likely command a top-level salary, as reports have indicated he was one of the highest-paid coaches in the world at PSG and Chelsea. However, Crocker has said the federation won’t be limited by financial restrictions.

“It’s a really competitive market out there, salary-wise, and we have to be competitive to get the level of coach that I believe can take the program forward in terms of achieving the results that we want on the field,” Crocker said. “It’s a priority. It’s something we’re prepared to invest in and something that we will be investing in.”

(Top photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)