Team USA has chosen Los Angeles Lakers superstar and NBA legend LeBron James to be its male flagbearer during the opening ceremonies at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, to be held on July 26.
“It’s special to get an opportunity to represent your country in another fashion,” James said upon discovering his role on Monday in London before Team USA’s final pre-Olympic exhibition match against Germany (h/t NBA.com). “I understand how prestigious this moment is… It will live on forever.”
The 39-year-old James was elected by the nearly-600-athlete cohort that makes up Team USA across all competitions at the Summer Games, making him the first men’s basketball player in the country’s history to bear the flag at the Olympics. Transcendental women’s stars Dawn Staley (Athens, 2004) and Sue Bird (Tokyo, 2021) were the first American basketball players to bear the US flag at an Olympics.
James and his American teammates will travel by boat down the River Seine on Friday as part of the opening ceremonies, which climaxes with the lighting of the Olympic torch. The 3.7-mile route is expected to have approximately 320,000 guests watching from the river bank with an estimated 1 billion more watching on television.
The responsibility is just another major honor for James, considered by many to be one of the two greatest basketball players to ever live and the most successful North American athlete of the 21st century. The Akron, OH native is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a four-time league champion, a four-time MVP, and a 20-time All-Star.
This will be James’ fourth Olympic Games representing Team USA and his first since 2012. He won gold medals in 2008 and 2012 on his way to amassing 273 points at the Olympics, which ranks third among all Americans. Upon his first appearance at the Summer Games, he will become one of three American men to appear in four Olympics, joining Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant.
