20 years after Olympic debut, LeBron, Taurasi still chasing gold

PARIS — LeBron James and Diana Taurasi know that by basketball standards, they’re old. They’re aware because, well, people won’t stop telling them. 
That quip about them being the grandpa and grandma of Team USA? Been there. The comment about them being some of the most seasoned veterans at these games? They’ve heard it before. They are the elder statesman and stateswoman of USA Basketball, longtime pillars who are going for their third and sixth gold medals, respectively. 
And yet, neither of them were the oldest basketball player at the Paris Olympics. That distinction went to Australia’s Lauren Jackson, who returned to the Opals this Olympics after missing Tokyo and Rio. When she took the court on July 29, at age 43 years, 79 days, she was officially “on the geriatric side of basketball,” she joked. 
Taurasi, by comparison, is 42 years, 58 days as of August 8. James is 39 years, 222 days. 
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In other words, they’ve got some experience. 
Team USA is into the men’s and women’s semifinals, with the men meeting Serbia Thursday at 3 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local time) and the women scheduled to play Australia, and Jackson, on Friday, also at 3 p.m. ET.
Of course it’s true that with so much mileage on their bodies, Taurasi and James aren’t the players they were 10 years ago. They’ll be the first to say that. But it doesn’t mean they’re ready to walk away. 
“I’m around a lot of young people all the time,” Taurasi joked, “and one thing I tell them, if there’s one thing you can’t escape in this country and this world, it’s ageism.” 
Then she got serious. 
“You know I’ve gone back and forth with this answer and feelings with this question,” she said. “You dedicate your life and whole career to something and you get the question, ‘why don’t you just retire?’ You know, this is something I’ve been doing since I was 5. It’s so easy for the question to be brought up in the manner where it’s not meant to be disrespectful but if you’re the person being asked, it is a bit disrespectful.
“I’m here to compete, to play at a high level, to give to my teammates, and I’m here to win a gold medal. That’s it. I don’t care about the last 20 years, I’m worried about the next 20 years.”
It’s also not lost on her that while she fields endless questions about when she’ll finally hang up her sneakers, James’ longevity is often admired. 
“Only a woman would have 20 years of experience and it’s an Achilles’ heel instead of something that is treasured and used as a way forward for our sport and for women,” Taurasi said. “Hopefully we can change that narrative.”
Both James and Taurasi are still playing at a high level, too, evidenced not only by their inclusion on the toughest team in the world to make, but their play in the pros. James became the NBA’s all time leading scorer in February 2023, and Taurasi made the All-Star team this summer for the first time since 2021 after averaging 16.1 points and shooting 40.1% the first half of the WNBA season.
In Paris, Taurasi started the Americans’ three pool play games, averaging just 12 minutes per game but providing oodles of wisdom for the younger players.
“People don’t understand the value of someone like Dee,” said U.S. women’s coach Cheryl Reeve. “What she’s doing on the floor, within a possession, diagnosing things quickly – at times, she’s the one calling the action. If you watch her, she’s telling everybody what to be in. She makes things much easier for everyone.”
Reeve also deeply admires how players like Taurasi and James have maintained their physiques. 
“I’ve been around Dee, around other great vets – they are exceptional at understanding how to take care of their bodies,” Reeve said. “And you have to be, right, otherwise you can’t play that long. That should be commended. I always think about, every camp we came to, whether it was Sue Bird or Diana Taurasi, they were always the most fit athlete in that camp. You have to be, because you’re fighting Father Time. You’re trying to bat him away.” 
While some have said James “isn’t the LeBron of previous years” – including Olympic teammate Joel Embiid − it was the oldest player on the roster who saved the U.S. from embarrassment on July 20. In Team USA’s second to last tune-up game before the Olympics, James scored the game-winning bucket in the final seconds to earn a 101-100 win over South Sudan, staving off disaster.
James and Taurasi’s Olympic connection is unique, too, because they both made their Olympic debut at the 2004 in Athens. James was 19 then, and Taurasi 22. Taurasi is quick to point out that James “skipped a couple,” along the way though.
“We got such a cool relationship,” James said. “First time I think I saw her was in London (in 2012), we pretty much looked at each other and said, ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ But it’s a blessing and honor to be able to still compete at this level and represent Team USA, especially at the later stages of our careers.”
That they’re here 20 years later is something neither could have anticipated. Jackson knows how that feels.
“It’s a bit of time warp, being in this environment again, it’s crazy,” said Jackson, a three-time WNBA MVP and two-time champion with the Seattle Storm. She described the whole experience as “bizarre.” 
“Twenty or thirty years ago, you wouldn’t have seen players our age still contributing, so it is special,” Jackson said. “But they’re still playing in the NBA and WNBA. I’m not doing that. I’m legitimately old. I feel kind of weird being put in the same vein as them but it is special with our age.”
Jackson keeps tabs on both James and Taurasi’s careers, but hasn’t had time to chat with either of them since they’ve been in Paris. Meanwhile, Taurasi said she and James do “talk about what’s next in life all the time.” They admire the next generation of talent, some of which they’re playing with here at the Games. 
That talent, she said, inspires them, too, and fuels their competitive spirit. It’s a big part of why they’re sticking around.
“It’s hard to let go,” Taurasi said. “And we’re still holding on tight.”
Email Lindsay Schnell at [email protected] and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell.
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