Sports
Even for Stephen Curry, that Olympic gold-medal game performance was ridiculous
PARIS — “A Gold Medal in Four Acts,” authored by and starring Wardell Stephen Curry.
Stephen Curry hugged Kevin Durant at midcourt at Bercy Arena. They each had hold of a U.S. flag, that enveloped both of them. They had won back-to-back NBA championships together, when they changed the path of the league by joining forces with the Golden State Warriors. Now, they were celebrating something that only a few people get to do in basketball: win an Olympic gold medal, in another country. And, very few people have had to do it as, essentially, the road team, with a sellout crowd here doing everything in its power to will its beloved French national team to an improbable, titanic upset.
But Curry, simply, would not allow it.
With four 3-pointers in the last three minutes, on four shots, one more ridiculous than the last, with the last defying all common sense and logic, Curry secured the United States’ fifth straight gold medal in men’s Olympic basketball, holding off France, 98-87. It was Durant’s fourth gold medal. His place as the greatest player in U.S. international basketball history is secure. This was Curry’s first gold. At 36, it may well be his only gold. But he wanted this so, so badly, and has wanted it for a long, long time.
“We always say, you do what the game calls for, and what you kind of feel in the flow,” Curry said afterward, after he’d hit eight 3-pointers Saturday, to go with the nine he’d made in the Americans’ incredible come-from-behind victory over Serbia in the semifinals.
LeBron James was a worthy MVP of the tournament. What he did during this fortnight, at age 39, is simply beyond description. But Curry was the indispensable man the last two games, when the medals were on the line. That he did it after not shooting well at all during group play is just part of the Curry legend.
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“Coach (Steve Kerr) reminded me, at a certain point, early, the game will come to you if you allow it,” Curry said. “And even if I was missing shots, just stay engaged. And that kind of fed into being locked in for these last two games, because the game called for me to get shots up, and knock them down. … you just stay confident, stay present, and don’t get rattled by the moment.”
There was a reason Curry was so excited — “like a little kid,” USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill said back in April — when he was formally invited to play for USA Basketball, after being injured in 2016, and opting not to play in Japan in 2021. There was no doubt, once James and Durant committed again to playing for their country, that Curry would join them.
“And I had two extra months to practice,” Curry said, referring to the Warriors not making the playoffs this past season.
The Americans had the upper hand for most of the game Saturday. But a sloppy end of the third quarter, with more miscues in the fourth, and the ravenous home crowd keeping the energy up, gave France an opening. And they took advantage. They cut a 13-point deficit early in the third quarter to six by that quarter’s end. Then, five, with 3:32 left. Then, three, on Victor Wembanyama’s offensive rebound dunk with 3:04 remaining. Bercy was berserk. The impossible dream, of avenging their 2021 loss to the U.S. in Tokyo, was within their sights.
“Down the stretch, Steph took over,” Kerr said. “He actually suggested in the timeout, ‘Let me run a clear side pick and roll with LeBron and we’ll clear the floor.’ I said OK, because I’ve seen this before, and it usually turns out well.”
Act I
USA 82, France 79, 3:04 remaining
Curry shot-fakes France’s Guerschon Yabusele, then rises right of the key from 26 feet, and, with Yabusele’s hands at his sides, drains a 3 to put the U.S. team back up by six. He gives the French fans the palms-down, calm-yourselves-down treatment on the way back up the court.
CURRY TIME. 🥶
A huge three to shift the momentum late. #ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/kDSOCr9bao
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024
“Steph earned this, the last few weeks,” Kerr said. “The last couple of weeks, every day, the work ethic. I tell people all the time, when Kevin was with our team, my favorite part of practice with the Warriors was after practice, watching these two work. It’s not an accident that they’re able to do what they’re able to do down the stretch of games. The work, just watching these two guys, day after day after day, is really impressive. I’ve talked about LeBron, during this experience as well. When you see these guys behind the scenes, and how hard they work, how much they love the process of the work itself, it all makes sense that they’re as good as they are.”
Act II
USA 87, France 81, 2:10 remaining
This time, Curry shot-fakes Nicolas Batum, then steps to the side from 27 feet. “Bang,” as Mike Breen would say. As he runs back up court, Curry points to his chest and says something to the U.S. bench. It appeared he was saying, “They can’t guard me!” Maybe he said, “They can’t (bleeping) guard me!’”(Although, Curry doesn’t cuss much at all, really.) At any rate, it’s becoming clear that he’s correct, and the French can’t (bleeping) guard him.
Intermission
In which various Olympic teammates talk about the greatest shooter in NBA history …
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers: “I’ve seen it before. Different uniform, though.”
Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns: “Out of body experience.”
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves: “I was able to witness greatness. … Watching Steph? Hey, I was just telling him, ‘Boy, you crazy, bro.’ Shorty went crazy. I ain’t got nothing to say about it. He is who he is, you feel me?”
Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat: “I was kind of like, ‘What the f—?’ But, then I had to remember who was shooting it. And we’ve all seen him do incredible things like that.”
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: “Like I said, it’s fun to be on (his) side. Big shots after big shots. And the level of difficulty of those shots, and the moment, it was tremendous.”
Act III
USA 90, France 84, 1:43 remaining
This time, it’s Nando de Colo in the crockpot. Curry, shot fake, pulls up … you know how this goes by now, right?
Cooked de Colo.
The U.S. is back up nine, with 1:18 to go. And Curry starts screaming — a primordial type of yell, that “Og,” living in Spain’s Atapuerca Mountains, may have screamed when the rocks he had been rubbing together for a week finally flinted, and there was fire, and Og could finally cook the mastodon he’d killed a week ago. Or, it could be the yell of a 36-year-old man who’d desperately wanted to be an Olympian for so long, and hadn’t been able to, but was finally doing so in the most amazing way possible in what will likely be the last two games of his Olympic career.
Act IV
USA 93, France 87, 0:55 remaining
France, a smart, veteran team, coached by a legend in Vincent Collet, now double-teams Curry, sending both Batum and Evan Fournier at him off the pick and roll. They’re “blitzing” him, in NBA parlance, trying to make him pass the ball to someone else. In addition, the shot clock, now the size of a small hovercraft placed on Curry’s back, was ticking down toward zero. But Curry goes behind his back, takes a dribble right of the key, and lets it fly, over both Batum’s and Fournier’s outstretched arms, from somewhere near Nice.
Splash.
“THE GOLDEN DAGGER!”
Steph Curry that is utterly ridiculous. 🤯#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/8hIN8tgmfK
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024
“Every shot you take, you think it’s going in,” Curry said. “That was at the end of a solid flurry of shots,” Curry said. “At the end of the day, all I saw was the rim. I didn’t see who was in front of me. I knew it was kind of a late-clock situation. That impressed me. I impressed myself, for sure. For sure.”
And he gave a whole nation the night-night, as he ran back up the floor. Good effort, France, good effort.
“Honestly, I told him, ‘No way you making that,’” Edwards said. “‘Cause he threw it up high. But, he cold. He cold.”
An aside: A France team with Nolan Traoré, a near-lock to be a top-five pick in the 2025 NBA draft after playing next season for the French team Saint-Quentin, running the point in 2028 for France in Los Angeles, with Wemby and Rudy Gobert and Bilal Coulibaly and Yabusele, and maybe Alexandre Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher and Tidjane Salaun by then … well, let’s just say that would be a hell of a rematch between the U.S. and Les Bleus. And if Embiid pulled an ultimate Heel Turn, a la Hogan at Bash at the Beach in ’96, and decided to play for France? Sacré Bleu!
Will Curry be in Los Angeles, at 40? I mean, Durant didn’t rule it out when asked, and he’s been playing for USA Basketball for 14 years. Who knows what Chef Curry can cook up next?
“It’s everything I imagined, and more,” Curry said of this, his first Olympic experience. “We all signed up for this mission, to continue USA Basketball’s dominance. Obviously, I understood it was going to be a really tough task, with some great teams that we were going to face. It’s a sense of relief, at the end, but it’s more like a sense of accomplishment, obviously knowing what we were able to do. I’ve seen the medal ceremonies at other events. I’ve seen (Durant) get all three of his. I’ve watched it and envisioned what it would feel like. It wasn’t really like knocking something off of my resume, it was more ’cause I haven’t experienced it yet, and not knowing what it was going to be like. … Everything was eye-opening, from start to finish.”
(Top photo of Stephen Curry: Christina Pahnke – sampics / Getty Images)
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The highly anticipated 30th WNBA season tipped off Friday with three games, including the expansion Toronto Tempo’s first-ever contest.
The action continued Saturday with a full slate, including Caitlin Clark’s return after an injury-riddled sophomore season.
Clark and the Indiana Fever hosted the Dallas Wings on Saturday afternoon in a matchup featuring the four most recent No. 1 overall picks. The Wings outlasted the Fever 107-104, but the game was defined by Azzi Fudd’s — the most recent top pick — underwhelming debut.
Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers react during the first half of the Fever’s season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 9, 2026. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Fudd played 18 minutes off the bench, scoring three points — the lowest ever by a No. 1 overall pick in a WNBA debut.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez addressed Fudd’s performance after the game, encouraging the rookie to, “Keep doing what she’s doing, it’s her first year in the league. We got five really talented backcourt players.”
EX-WNBA STAR CRITICAL OF SKY ROOKIE HAILEY VAN LITH, BELIEVES POPULARITY PLAYED ROLE IN DRAFT SELECTION
In addition to Fudd, Dallas’ backcourt features last year’s top draft pick Paige Bueckers, last season’s No. 12 overall pick Aziaha James, four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale and starting guard Odyssey Sims.
Until Saturday, Kelsey Plum held the record for the lowest-scoring debut by a No. 1 pick. Selected first overall by the then-San Antonio Stars in 2017, she scored just four points in her debut. The Stars relocated to Las Vegas in 2018 and was subsequently rebranded as the Aces.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd warms up before the game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 9, 2026. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Despite the slow start to her first season in the league, Plum ended the year with All-Rookie team honors. In the years since, she’s been named to four All-Star teams and won two championships with the Aces.
The Wings’ decision to take Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick drew controversy, raising questions about whether Bueckers’ personal relationship with her influenced the selection. Late last month, Bueckers said last month it did not.
Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall by the Dallas Wings during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
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“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it, and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, who she is as a basketball player,” Bueckers said, according to ESPN.
Neither Bueckers nor Fudd has publicly updated their relationship status since the April draft.
“Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own,” Bueckers also said in April. “And what we choose to share is completely up to us.”
Next up, the Wings play their home opener on Tuesday when they host the Atlanta Dream.
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The Lakers are one playoff defeat from their season being over and from the conversation turning to LeBron James’ future.
They are in a hole no team has climbed out of in the history of the NBA, the Lakers’ 131-108 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 putting L.A. down 3-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.
James and his teammates gave a gallant effort Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, but the defending champion proved to be more than the Lakers could handle.
James finished his night with 19 points on seven-for-19 shooting, eight assists and six rebounds. Rui Hachimura had 21 points and Austin Reaves finished with 17 points and nine assists.
Even so, the Lakers have now lost all three games by double digits.
And the Lakers are fully aware that no NBA team has successfully come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs, with those teams holding a 161-0 record. Only four teams have forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0, all of which ultimately lost the series, including the Boston Celtics in 2023.
Lakers forward LeBron James shows frustration as Thunder center Chet Holmgren slam dunks during Game 3 on Saturday night.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Game 4 is Monday night, when the Lakers will try to stave off elimination and a night that will determine how the conversations go with James if they lose.
James has been frequently asked this season about retirement, but he has not given any indication of what the future holds for him.
He’s 41 years old and playing in an NBA-record 23rd season.
James is in the final year of his contract that pays him $52 million, making him a free agent this offseason. He can retire, join another team or perhaps return to the Lakers next season.
That will be the conversation if the Lakers can’t win Game 4.
They will see the same Thunder team that had seven players score in double figures, led by Ajay Mitchell’s 24 points and 10 assists and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 23 points and nine assists.
The Lakers went down 13 in the third quarter and had to play catchup the rest of the way. They never did, going down by 112-94 with 6 minutes and 12 seconds left, forcing Lakers coach JJ Redick to call a timeout.
The deficit just kept growing, topping out at 27 points in the fourth.
They were outscored 33-20 in the third quarter. The Lakers didn’t take care of the basketball in the third, turning it over six times, and they didn’t play good defense, allowing the Thunder to shoot 59.1% from the field and 55.6 percent from three-point range,
The Lakers did not give an inch to the Thunder in the first half, even when they fell behind by 10 points.
They just kept grinding until they led 59-57 at halftime.
Hachimura had 16 points in the first half, continuing his hot three-point shooting by making all four of his threes. Luke Kennard came off the bench to give the Lakers 13 points, shooting five for six from the field and three for four from three-point range.
The Lakers kept the pressure defense on Gilgeous-Alexander. Though he had 14 points in the first half, he shot only four for 14 from the field and one for five from three-point range.
The Lakers shot 55% from three-point range in the first half, which went a long way in helping them.
The Lakers lost the first two games by identical margins of 18 points and each loss was magnified because Gilgeous-Alexander was kept under wraps for the most part by L.A.’s defense.
When Gilgeous-Alexander picked up his fourth foul with 10:34 left in the third quarter of Game 2 and went to the bench, the Thunder turned a five-point lead into a 13-point advantage at the end of the quarter.
So, when he wasn’t on the court, the Lakers failed to take advantage.
“Well, you know, again, I’ll repeat what I said after the game: we’ve got to be better in the non-Shai minutes,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
Role players like Mitchell and Jared McCain hurt the Lakers in the second game. Chet Holmgren also was hard to deal with.
“Mitchell and McCain have hurt us in those non-Shai minutes, and then Chet [Holmgren] has hurt us the whole game,” Redick said. “I think you’ve got to be willing to live with something. Shai playing one-on-one, thus far in the series, we haven’t been willing to live with, so you’re going to be in rotation. That can lead to smalls on bigs at the hole, and the offensive rebounding from Chet has really hurt us.”
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In 2025, Alex Palou kicked off the Month of May with a Sonsio Grand Prix win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Based on the odds, it’s likely that Palou will find himself in Winner’s Circle again this Saturday when INDYCAR goes back to IMS on May 9 (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
Considering Palou has already captured the checkered flag three times this season, are there any other drivers whose odds are worth a wager?
Here are the latest lines at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 9.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Sonsio Grand Prix 2026
Àlex Palou: 5/18 (bet $10 to win $12.78 total)
Kyle Kirkwood: 5/1 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Pato O’Ward: 12/1 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
David Malukas: 14/1 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Josef Newgarden: 16/1 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Scott McLaughlin: 20/1 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Christian Lundgaard: 30/1 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Scott Dixon: 40/1 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Will Power: 60/1 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Felix Rosenqvist: 80/1 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Alexander Rossi: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Marcus Ericsson: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Marcus Armstrong: 100/1 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Christian Rasmussen: 150/1 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Graham Rahal: 150/1 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Louis Foster: 300/1 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Dennis Hauger: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Romain Grosjean: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Santino Ferrucci: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Rinus Veekay: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Kyffin Simpson: 500/1 (bet $10 to win $5,010 total)
Caio Collet: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Sting Ray Robb: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Nolan Siegel: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Mick Schumacher: 1000/1 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Here’s what to know about the oddsboard:
Heavy Favorite: It doesn’t look like Alex Palou’s dominance will be slowing down anytime soon. As noted above, he’s already won three of the five races since the INDYCAR season started in March. With 186 laps led, Palou sits first in the standings and has the shortest odds to win the title again. Last season, he started from the pole and led 29 laps before winning the race.
Long Shot to Watch: While his odds of 150/1 to win at IMS are much longer than Palou’s, Graham Rahal is one to watch. At this race in 2025, he started second and led 49 laps before finishing sixth. He finished second at this course in 2015, 2020 and 2023. He’s currently 10th in the INDYCAR standings, with one top five and three top 10s.
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