Conclusions from US Olympic Team Win 101-100 about South Sudan in a friendly game on Saturday in London:
LeBron James’ layup with 8 seconds left was the game-winner, and the victory marked the 40th time in a row that the Americans have won an international game with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer – at age 39, soon to become the oldest men’s basketball player in the USA. Olympian of all time – in uniform.
It seems that being in London works for King James. Playing in the same building he played in during the 2012 London Olympics – the O2 Arena, which was called the North Greenwich Arena during those games twelve years ago – James excelled down the stretch.
In that gold medal game against Spain in 2012, James hit a game-sealing 3-pointer with about 2 minutes left to cap a season in which he won the NBA MVP, the NBA Finals MVP, a NBA with the Miami Heat and Olympic gold.
South Sudan achieved this Olympic berth based on its qualification at last year’s World Cup. Its national federation is led by former NBA player Luol Deng, and the team is coached by former NBA guard and now Houston assistant coach Royal Ivey.
James gave both men a lot of credit after the game on Saturday.
“Having that representation, having that kind of leadership there, teaching the correct way to play, that’s good. That’s great, actually,” James said. “The game is global. There isn’t a single place where you won’t see the game being played. I think that’s the beauty of it. The game of basketball brings so many people together.”
Kevin Durant was on the floor doing some warm-ups, but the Americans were again without the three-time Olympic gold medalist.
Durant returned to training on Friday after about three weeks of dealing with a calf strain. It is possible that he will play in the USA’s final preparation, on Monday, against Germany, in London. Otherwise, he will head into the Olympics without having seen any real game action since April 28, when his Phoenix Suns were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
South Sudan made 14 3-pointers, while the U.S. made seven. U.S. reserves were 1-for-11 from beyond the arc.
___
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
