[dramatic music plays]
[commentator] Hello, and welcome to the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille
for this Group A basketball matchup
between Greece and Canada.
Both teams have been absent from the Olympic Games for a long time.
Sixteen years for Greece,
24 years for Canada.
Growing up, I remember all my friends played hockey. Everybody played hockey.
[hockey commentator] Sakic scores!
Finished off perfectly!
Ice time is… [chuckling] …like, a premium out here.
Even, you know, a school basketball court would be floor hockey.
[commentator] Canada has brought the building to life.
Any time I would turn on the TV,
to, like, watch highlights of sports, it would always be hockey.
[commentator] Crosby… It's over!
Just like that!
And then they would rerun the hockey again.
[commentator] Done and dusted!
Canada are golden!
Even though there's basketball games being played, that used to piss me off.
Canada has its own national sport. It's hockey.
But they're developing some players.
They got a posse of players.
I've heard a lot of stereotypes about Canadians.
One of them is that, like, we're very polite.
We're just, like, very nice people.
But when we get in between the lines, it's definitely a competitive edge to us.
Just to prove ourselves, and kind of what Canada basketball is to the world.
[Dillon Brooks] I don't want to play against… you know, no mediocre teams
or mediocre players.
You know, I want the best to be out there so we can see
where Canada basketball is at.
[music peaks and fades out]
["A-Yo" (feat. Saukrates) by Method Man & Redman plays]
♪ Yeah! ♪
♪ Check it out, yo ♪
♪ I be like yiggy, yes y'all ♪
♪ Doctor on call ♪
♪ I rock to my name In graffiti on the wall ♪
♪ Got flow Like the rappers in Great George ♪
- ♪ Got… ♪ - ♪ I got… ♪
♪ My name Jamal, I pause ♪
[upbeat hip-hop song continues]
[Bjorkgren] First group, you're out here on defense.
Papanikolaou, far right corner.
Giannis, set the first stagger.
Papagiannis, set the second stagger.
Shai, you'll guard Walkup in that left corner.
He might try to spin. Dwight, it's a good time to be there.
But our extreme ball pressure is right here.
Okay, here we go.
- [player shouts] - Physical and into him.
The Dream Team, they only played against nine NBA players, combined.
Team Canada has more than nine on their roster.
- [crowd roaring] - ♪ Got my swagger on, and I feel great ♪
♪ Funk Doc be in the hood Like Enfamil cases ♪
The runner-up for MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is Canadian.
[crowd roars]
[Wilbon] Lu Dort, who may be the best on-ball defender
of wing players in the NBA, is Canadian.
[Bjorkgren] Second group, here we go.
Jamal, he is a game-changer, and he is unstoppable.
[commentator 1] It's Murray cutting, and jamming it in!
[commentator 2 laughs]
That's why he's an NBA champion.
[Malika Andrews] The stereotype of Canada is, Canada is nice.
And Dillon Brooks brings an edge.
♪ A-yo ♪
♪ A-yo, a-yo ♪
♪ Hey! ♪
[Malika] He's going to play you hard every minute.
He is a defensive pest.
He is a menace. He wants to get under your skin.
- ♪ A-yo ♪ - [song ends]
[Mitchell] Okay, this team… they like to come from the baseline.
Trey, you just wanna sneak underneath from here,
and we're gonna get that diver right there.
Here's a scenario. Jamal, you're handling, right?
[players chatting and clapping]
[Rowan Barrett] We're confident in who we have and what we've done,
and last year, we played the number 1, 2, and 3 teams in the world and beat them.
[Bjorkgren] Good job.
Good shot.
[RJ Barrett] I love representing my country.
There's a lot of joy, there's a lot of pride in it and…
you know, it's not for money or anything.
It's just, you know, our country's better than yours.
- [Mitchell] Here we go, get it in! - [man] Here we go.
[indistinct shouting]
[RJ] Having my dad as the general manager is…
It's kind of weird, but I mean, cool, at the same time.
I look at it just like I'm here doing my job.
I'm here trying to play for my country.
So I just keep it professional, but then, once we're away from the court
and away from the gym, then, you know, he's still Dad.
You know, I support him, you know…
if anything, I probably speak a little less to him,
during the time he's on the team.
[Bjorkgren whistles] Here we go, bring it in.
Alright, high-level practice is mental practice today.
And that's how we start winning a game, alright.
Our goal is to win the first game.
Our goal is one game at a time. Alright?
- Here we go, put it in. - Let's go.
[clapping]
- Canada on three. One, two, three. - [all] Canada.
- [light clapping] - [purposeful music playing]
I was born in '91. I think the Raptors came in '95.
[commentator] Wants the penetration, he's going to the basket strong!
[crowd cheering]
Vince Carter on a slam, nobody picked him up!
Basketball, kind of from the Raptors on, just kept gaining steam,
gaining steam, growing, growing.
It's an opportunity for the Raptors to put ourselves on the map,
and just become recognized in this league.
Basketball in Canada's always had a really strong culture.
But more of a borderline niche culture.
Now we're producing players at a historic and international clip.
We have the second-most NBA players in the world now, which was unheard of
in 2000 and '99 when we qualified.
[commentator] Nash gets it up ahead… Got it! Yes!
[Rowan] Last time we qualified for the Olympics was in 1999.
We played in the 2000 Games in Sydney.
[announcer] Number 9, Rowan Barrett.
[RJ] Growing up, seeing my dad's Olympic jersey just framed on the wall,
walking past it every single day… um, just asking him about it…
You could see how much, you know, it meant to him to be an Olympian.
[commentator] Got the basket, and he'll go to the line!
[Rowan] I was team captain, along with Steve Nash.
We had a great run.
[Nash] When we went to the Olympics, we won our group.
What an incredible journey,
for us to kind of announce that we're capable of doing this.
I felt, more than pressure,
a responsibility… to your teammates, your program, your country.
That was heavy.
Go back to when I was playing in the NBA, I was the face of the team.
And I think that's welcome,
but at the same time, that does bring a lot of pressure that's maybe unseen
under the surface that comes out.
[Rowan] Steve has inspired Canadian basketball players to dream.
[crowd cheering]
[Rowan] To be at the top level, the absolute pinnacle of the sport,
the MVP multiple times in the NBA, you know,
as Canadians is not something we'd ever really seen one of us do.
[crowd roars]
So I always try to stay, you know, diligent with my work ethic,
with the next step, the next day, and the next training session,
the next performance.
And hopefully by doing that, I was able to reach a height
that was inspirational to a generation behind me.
Steve's influence on RJ has been tremendous.
I met RJ… [exhales]
…as a toddler.
And I've just… been Uncle Steve and followed him ever since.
[light laughter]
[RJ] Steve Nash, you know, he's my godfather.
Being able to see that someone that I know is in the NBA,
it made the goal feel more achievable.
[commentator] They've won the third-place game against the United States.
What a moment for Canadian basketball.
[Nash] It's an incredible feeling to see him become the young man that he is,
the basketball player,
and the way he has such an incredible pride in playing for his country.
[RJ] Growing up knowing how special the Olympics are to my dad,
I told him that I would get there one day
and put my jersey up on the wall next to his.
He gotta move his over, you know, make space for a new one.
[Nash] This does feel big, you know.
We know now we have the players to get on the podium.
There's an opportunity here to medal.
So that feels big. This feels like a moment.
[commentator 1] Day one of group play here at Lille.
Canada and Greece, NBA talent littered across the floor.
[commentator 2] I want to watch Canada because now they have expectations.
I want to see how they perform being one of the top teams in this tournament.
[Bjorkgren] Keep Giannis off the glass all night.
Remember, he's always cutting running in transition.
This is "I," okay. Now they're gonna do this for two things.
Number one is an iso for Giannis.
They don't get to walk it up.
Our ball pressure starts everything. We score, we pick up full, we pressure.
Our extreme ball pressure on everything will help our post defenders in the paint.
[Jordi] Alright, you guys see the word here "emotions," right?
It's gonna be a pretty great game, there better be emotions.
The one thing this thing cannot do is make us forget our controllables.
Control this, we all support each other, we all trust each other,
this is gonna be a great game.
Remember, in this tournament, the most important game is the first game.
- Alright? Here we go, bring it in. - [clapping]
Fight together, fight for each other.
- Canada on three. One, two, three. - [all] Canada!
Alright, let's go.
Let's go, champ.
- You good? - Mm-hmm.
- Go get 'em, man. Alright? - Mm-hmm.
[Rowan] Go get 'em.
[tense music builds]
[indistinct chatter]
[crowd cheering]
[Malika] The way that it works is there's 12 teams
that make the Olympic basketball field.
The first stage of the tournament is the group stage,
and that's three groups of four teams
that make up the group stage.
The top two teams from every group
make it to the knockout round.
Plus the top two third-place teams.
So eight teams make it to the knockout round.
[crowd cheering faintly]
["O Canada" playing over speakers]
[Nash] The Olympics, it can be really hard.
A lot of countries never get to the Olympics
or get there once in a blue moon.
And it's taken a lot of growth and time
to put us back in a position where we expect to go to the Olympics now.
[Rowan] It's not lost on us that this is our first Olympics in a quarter-century.
We haven't reached the podium since 1936.
[dramatic music builds slowly]
[indistinct excited chatter]
- Canada on three. One, two, three. - Canada!
[whistling and cheering]
[dramatic music intensifies]
[Dillon] We're not here for the Olympic Games
to watch freaking shot put, or high jump, or soccer.
We're here, we're locked in, to, you know, making history,
and doing better than it was in 1936 or 2000.
We're here to, you know, make some noise.
[commentator 1] Papagiannis and Dwight Powell jump it up.
And we are underway.
Giannis looking for the ball. Great interior pass!
Now the crowd starting to get into it.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the cross, the sauce, the bucket, and the foul.
[crowd exclaiming]
[Shai] The experience in the group is special.
I think a lot of it comes from us growing up together.
[commentator 1] Brooks on Antetokounmpo.
[Shai] There's about six, seven, eight guys on the team
that I vividly remember playing against growing up as a kid.
[commentator 1] RJ Barrett.
Get out of his way!
And he just took flight.
[Shai] We play fast, we play gritty.
We try to be the aggressors.
[commentator 2] This has been the story of the game so far,
the ball pressure on the Greek guards.
We like to make other teams uncomfortable.
[commentator 1] Murray, sidestep, and J.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator 2] That sidestep is unguardable.
Five guys that play as a unit, and pass the ball, cut on time, on target,
and ball's flying, you don't know where shots are coming from…
- [commentator 1] Dort, 3 ball. Unfazed. - [commentator 2] There you go.
[commentator 1] Over the double team, Dort splashed it home.
[Dillon] Every time we step on the floor,
we feel like we're the best in the world at everything we do.
Scoring, defense,
sharing the basketball, and, you know, we're coming to prove something.
[commentator 2] Brooks all over him here, hands on him…
And our message, you know, to everybody is… we're the best
in the world.
[crowd roaring]
[commentator 1] Canada, after leading big,
survives through the finish line, 86-79.
And the Canadians, 1-0 to start the 2024 Olympics here in Lille.
[ambient city sounds]
["Flashback Bounce" (feat. Ugly Mac Beer) by Arom playing]
[Bam] The thing that's hard about the Olympics
is, like, you got so many events that are happening at the same time.
[French rap song continues]
You can't take these moments for granted. All of us are just here enjoying our time.
[Tyrese] I wanted to go to breakdancing,
but women are day before the gold medal game,
and men are the day of the gold medal game.
You gonna go to any other sports?
[Anthony Edwards] Hell nah.
[Tyrese] Thought you wanted to go to swimming?
If they got freestyle. If they doing freestyle, like if I'm free.
I'm fast as fuck in the water.
But 50 meters, I'm gonna get tired. But 25 meters, I'm gonna beat somebody.
[Tyrese chuckles]
[Bam] Paris reminds me of…
New York with no AC
and no ice.
We get to go see fencing.
I've never seen fencing live.
[crowd clapping]
[Bam] It'll be a great experience.
- [man] Are you a big table tennis guy? - I like it, but he was talking shit.
So I need to go with him so he can see it live.
[Edwards] I got to see that shit.
["Flashback Bounce" continues]
[Tyrese shouting indistinctly]
Yeah, he's from France.
His name's Lebrun. Félix Lebrun.
Lily was the one who laughed at you. You said you could beat her.
She just laughed at you.
Yeah, Lily!
[Steph Curry] Yo, Ant.
They say they'd smack you 21-0.
In what, Ping-Pong?
- [Steph] That's them right there. - [man] This is perfect.
Uh… I got some people talkin' about they gonna beat me in Ping-Pong 21-0.
I don't believe it. I don't believe it.
I don't believe it.
I'm not having it. I'm not having it.
Eleven to zero? I'm scoring one point.
- [laughter] - [Edwards] One point, I'm scoring.
[French rap song continues]
[crowd cheering]
[Tyrese] How is your hand-eye that good?
[crowd cheering]
[Tyrese] Yeah, Lily! Yeah, Lily!
[crowd cheering]
[French rap song continues]
[crowd cheers]
Oh, they straight to it.
Straight to it.
Yeah, get straight to it.
It gives you that thrill of, uh…
scoring a basket in the NBA.
Having those transition moments where, like, the crowd gets into it, so…
I like fencing.
- [song ends] - Well, I'm a new fan of it now.
- [man] Perfect, thank you. - Yeah.
[in French] Félix's got some swag.
[man 1] Félix is 13th in the global ranking?
[man 2] Big swag!
[Batum] It's LeBrown James.
- It's LeBrun James. - [man 1] LeBrun.
- [man 2] LeeBron. - [Batum] LeeBroin.
[man 1] LeeBrains.
- [Batum] 17? - [man 3] Look!
[men shouting] Yes!
- [man 2] Come on, this is it! - [man 1] That's more like it.
[man 3] I told you you don't know anything about sport! Told you so!
This was easy, finger in the nose, this was easy!
[Gobert in English] I think for us as a team now, it's about being consistent,
in our preparation, in our routine.
Uh… take care of our bodies, our minds, and stuff.
You don't have a lot of time in an international competition.
Every day matters.
[air hissing]
[chef in French] Could you bring some ice, please?
[pensive music playing]
[in English] Everything we make is like… only the best for them.
[in French] I'm seasoning the fish.
[in English] During the game day, each player give us what they want to eat.
So we have, like, 12 different plates every game day, for their lunch.
At the end, the result of the plate
is the result they're gonna have in their body.
So we have to be really careful of what we give to them.
Great quality meat, fish,
and all the vegetables are from, like, a small farm around here.
We only work with the best for them.
[chef 2 in French] We also need to be mindful of the diet of players,
like Victor, Evan, Rudy, Bilal.
Some players pay close attention to their dietary routines,
as they also work with their clubs' nutritionists.
And we also need to adapt to it.
For instance, we know some players don't eat eggs
because they get inflammations if they eat eggs.
That's also something we need to manage on our end. We make protein pancakes.
[chef 1 in English] Eating three pancakes is like they're drinking a protein shake.
[music ends]
[Fournier in French] Did you take a nap?
Rudy?
Did you take a nap?
[Gobert] No, I was in the…
[Fournier] Hyperbaric?
- Like, do you really feel the difference? - Yeah, it's amazing.
I think I'll give it a try tonight.
[Wemby] There was one summer, I had gotten injured so I did it a lot.
- I recovered really well. - [Fournier] Like, every day?
Maybe three or four times a week.
[Fournier] For how long?
One hour, I'd say.
But at that time, Stranger Things had just come out.
- So, every day, I would… - [Fournier] Which show?
Stranger Things.
[laughter]
So every day, I'd pick up the show where I left off.
[laughing]
- [Fournier] You going to the gym? - [Gobert] Ah, yeah.
[Fournier] Alright, let's go play.
- [balls bouncing] - [shoes squeaking]
Come on.
- [pensive music builds] - [Diaw in English] It's a great moment.
It's at the right time for French basketball.
It took us time to bring the national team to a level
that, you know, people look at us that we can win
every time we start a competition.
We're jealous that this generation get to have the Olympics at home.
We wish that we were able to still be players.
[commentator] Boris Diaw.
Beautiful-looking shot.
[Diaw] I was the captain of the national team from 2006 to 2018.
So, for 12 years.
It's funny because a lot of people are like, "Wait."
"Tony Parker's not the captain of that team?" [laughs]
[pensive music continues]
[Diaw] I met Tony in INSEP.
INSEP basically is an institute from the nation.
They try to bring in INSEP all the best potential talents
that we think is gonna, you know, be part of the national team one day.
Tony, at a young age, his demeanor was different than everybody else.
He was saying, "Yeah. I'm gonna make it to the NBA."
"And I want to be the best scorer, and I'm gonna be this and that."
Where, you know, everybody else were like, "It might happen. If it happens, great."
[laughing] That was more my take on it. I was more, "Okay. Yeah, we'll see."
[French commentator speaking]
[Parker] The French side, they were more like,
"Oh, the most important is to participate."
And I hated that phrase.
I hated that sentence, you know, "The most important is to participate."
No, the most important is to win.
- [commentator in French] There it is! - Incredible!
[Parker in English] I wanted to put French basketball on the map.
[commentator in French] The French are European champions, overjoyed. So are we.
[David Stern in English] With the 28th pick in the 2001 Draft,
the San Antonio Spurs select
Tony Parker of Racing Club Paris.
[chuckling] When I first got drafted,
French basketball was… We were not relevant.
You know, it was like,
"Why they drafting a point guard from France?"
Yeah, they thought we were soft, and,
uh, we don't shower, we stink, uh, all that kind of stuff.
But, um… Yeah, Pop took a chance on me.
[interviewer] Why is Pop the guy kinda built for that? Taking that risk.
'Cause he's crazy. 'Cause he's crazy.
Well, he thinks I'm crazy for a lot of reasons, but, uh…
I think it was four games into the season, I gave him the basketball, and said,
"You're gonna run the show here."
"Either you're gonna be very successful… or you're gonna fail."
But I'm not gonna wait a year and a half or two years to decide
which one it's gonna be. You're gonna decide for me.
[commentator] The San Antonio Spurs… are your world champions.
When Tony won the title,
and the role he had with San Antonio when he won and everything…
In France, he was huge.
[all shouting]
[Parker] A lot of people was putting a lot of hopes in me.
The role as the French Ambassador,
and how you're gonna, you know, represent France in the US…
I took that very seriously.
[Wemby] Growing up, he was everything for French basketball, you know.
I mean, he was just an icon. It meant a lot.
And I think French basketball wouldn't be what it is today without him.
[Adam Silver] With the first pick, the San Antonio Spurs
select Victor Wembanyama.
Wemby, when he got drafted by the Spurs,
he put a picture on social media with my jersey.
Because when he was a kid, he was a Tony Parker, Spurs fan.
That was amazing. It was amazing.
Like, it's funny how life works.
It was just like it was meant to be that he goes to San Antonio.
- [clapping] - [overlapping shouts]
[Batum] I was at the practice for national team here in Paris.
We end our practice, and a young team was practicing after us.
And that was Wemby's team.
That was in 2018.
He was 14 years old.
And I just saw this big, skinny, young kid coming in.
I mean, I just sit down and start to watch practice.
And I remember, like, I left, pick up my phone, I call Tony Parker.
I was like, "You're the GOAT of French basketball."
"But enjoy, because in ten years, you won't be."
"I think I found the new one."
- [clapping] - [shouting]
[Parker] Now he's going to carry the torch
that I carried for almost 20 years. Now he's gonna do it.
[music fades out]
[Wemby] Having a lot of attention, I would say, it's clearly a privilege.
It's really not a burden, at all.
All the attention, it's… only… It's in the air.
[Collet in French] Attack the Brazilians.
We don't wait. We don't wait.
[in English] If I'm not on social media all day, checking everything about me,
I'm not gonna feel the burden.
[fans cheering]
[commentator] We've got a superb atmosphere
for the appearance of the host nation, France, and Wemby.
Victor Wembanyama, the NBA Rookie of the Year,
and they've been making tremendous noise
inside the venue.
[loud cheering]
[commentator in French] 27,000 people who are red hot right now.
[Collet] This tournament only lasts two weeks,
so we have to kick things off strong.
Play as if it were a 100m sprint. It is essential that, right off the bat,
we remember our identity and the determination we need to feel.
We're going to experience something amazing, and it starts now. Let's go!
[loud cheering]
- Blue, white, and red! - [all] France!
["La Marseillaise" playing]
[crowd singing along]
[Wemby in English] I don't think I realize yet how big this moment is.
And I think I'm only gonna realize it during the first game.
[scoffs] It's really something that's hard to grasp.
["La Marseillaise" ends]
[loud cheering]
[commentator in English] France, at home, up against Brazil.
Brazil, being one of the teams to always look out for.
They have some strong players.
They will be difficult to beat.
And so much expected of this man, Wembanyama.
He is an incredible talent.
Victor is different in a way that he can do things that nobody done before.
[commentator in French] France begins its Olympic journey… and gets the first ball.
[Diaw in English] A combination of strength, speed, length,
dexterity that he has.
[commentator] He's had a few goes. Still can't get it.
- [crowd roaring] - Picks up the foul and the basket!
That's what France needed.
The fans are on their feet.
You're not supposed to be that tall, not supposed to be that good.
He's both.
[commentator] Twisting, turning, and does get it to go this time.
Superb atmosphere in here.
And Wembanyama is getting into a groove.
He's on eight points for France, the leading scorer in the game.
[crowd chanting]
[commentator] Wemby.
Oh, that is extraordinary.
I've never had the choice to be normal
because of my, you know, my height, of course.
[commentator in French] What was that from Victor Wembanyama?
With his left hand!
[Wemby in English] I would say in the last five, six years,
I've really started to…
not try anymore to fit in.
[commentator] Wemby, he's the man with the hot hand.
[crowd roaring]
[commentator in French] He's killing them right now! Killing them on the inside!
[Wemby in English] I always have that one question.
"How does it feel to do this or do that?"
"Are you surprised that this happens?"
No, because it's not something that happened like this.
I've been working for 15 years to get here.
[commentator in French] No one can stop Victor Wembanyama! No one can stop him!
[in English] I want to change the momentum in your game
so I'm able to dictate
the game even when I'm on defense.
Go block some shots that…
we're not supposed to be able to block, you know.
I'm dictating the game.
[commentator in French] The French team is off to a successful start these Olympics.
We hope it'll end with the gold medal!
[Batum in English] That first game, I think, "What's next for France?"
I think it's more than that.
I think he's next for basketball.
[in French] You're crazy. You're crazy.
[indistinct chatter]
[Batum in English] One…
One down.
[light laughter]
[in French] My experience is that the difficult first games that we win,
are often those enabling us to improve.
If we can do this, we'll keep getting better.
And that's what we must do. Next Tuesday will be Japan.
It's a totally different opponent from Brazil.
So we must be ready mentally for this adversity.
Get some rest, and we'll get back to work on Monday!
[team cheering and clapping]
- Blue, white, and red! - [all] France!
[indistinct street noise]
- [in English] No, it should be… - Like this. You!
Thank you. Voilà.
- Voilà. - With me, nothing, huh?
Yes, of course.
- Five dollar, friend. - No, no, no.
Yes, we're friends. That's not cool.
[Vanja Marinković] I think every athlete that starts doing any sport,
his dream is to play at Olympics and maybe win something.
And if it's gold, I think
that's like the highest peak, the highest glory that you can achieve.
- And you, three times 20, huh? - Me?
Triple 20, and then seven.
- But you only have… - Triple 20?
But you only have two darts. [laughs]
Don't know. Third one over there. [laughs]
Triple 20 and seven, huh? What do you think?
- [chiming] - Oop!
Oh, oui.
[chiming]
- [laughing] - And this one over there, huh?
[Vanja in Serbian] Unbelievable.
[in English] It's not just in basketball.
[Vanja] Pleasure doing business with you.
[Bogdan] Our first game, we play against USA.
This is what you've been working all your career, and all your life,
to compete against such great basketball players.
Could this be Olympic sport?
What do you think?
In the future.
[Vanja] Over. I think it's over.
- [in Serbian] I won, you ape! - Suck it!
[laughs]
[in English] But I won. I won.
We didn't break the record. No, no, I won.
- 6.8… 6.5. - Ah, 6.8.
[Bogdan] This USA team is one of the best teams ever.
It's gonna be a challenge for us, but there's nothing to be fear of.
We are prepared. Now it's just time to have fun and play.
[in Serbian] Well, we're here now, and tomorrow's the first game.
That's right. The first game is…
As always, the first game is the most important one.
We’ll be playing against Team USA.
Since I constantly… I know that our fans, and you especially,
are only interested in whether we can defeat the Americans,
but there are other games to be played too.
First we have to play the way we do tomorrow.
That's it. Thank you.
[Kerr in English] I tell players this is a sprint.
There's no time like there is in the NBA to kind of ease your way in.
There's none of that.
There has to be a sense of urgency.
You know, these guys are incredibly accomplished.
And not only do they accept the pressure, but they really embrace it.
I think they are at their best when they're threatened.
This team has like legit three people that are walking Hall of Famers.
Really hard to doubt a team like that.
Like, I grew up watching Kevin Durant.
He really just wants to hoop.
Like, "I love basketball."
That's it.
[Kerr] I think Kevin's the greatest men's Olympic player of all time.
It's been really fun to reconnect and coach Kevin again,
because he's really easy to coach.
He loves basketball, and he loves being part of a team.
[driver on PA] Ladies and gentlemen… Good morning, everyone. Welcome.
[Wanda Durant] His level of commitment to this is practically unmatched.
Life hasn't been easy for us.
Life hasn't been easy for him on his journey.
[soft music playing]
We were an African-American family,
ran by a single,
uneducated
female,
who started a family as a teenager.
We weren't supposed to make it.
We were supposed to be statistics.
And I was determined that that wouldn't be the case for my son.
And that garners a toughness.
[Kevin] I started playing the game for a few reasons.
The camaraderie I got with my friends when I was a kid,
being able to get the true essence of a person.
You see what they're really about when you're out on the floor.
[Wanda] Kevin wanted to be a professional basketball player.
I didn't know what that looked like.
And so I would always require him to do more
than even the coach who knew what the training looked like.
We'd come to the hill, he would run up the hill.
And coach would say 50.
I'm like "Fifty? Well, I'm gonna sit in my car, and I'm gonna read a book,
and I need you to do 150 or 200."
"I'll be in the car."
And he would get mad.
But I was doing what I thought was needed in the preparation.
That's what it was about for me.
[Kevin] I've had times where I wasn't having fun with the game.
So I tried to lean on when I did have fun.
That's when I was a kid,
when me and my teammates didn't think about wins and losses.
We just wanted to play good basketball.
- [soft music ends] - [indistinct chatter]
[voices rising]
[all] Hey!
[shouting and cheering]
[chanting] USA!
USA!
- [clapping] - [chanting] Serbia! Serbia!
[commentator] The United States embarks on a journey
for a potential fifth straight gold medal,
and there's MVPs littered all over the court,
including Steph Curry, making his Olympic debut.
Nikola Jokić leads a hungry Serbia crowd,
as they look to upset the Americans here in France.
[man] What's Kevin Durant?
Buckets! Buckets!
[Kevin] I enjoy being around the best of the best.
Dudes that are on the same level,
that experience the things you experience in this league,
that want the same things out of life that you want.
And it's rare when you get in the room with those type of people.
Especially 12 of them at once.
Then you're like, "I've been exposed to the highest of the highs."
"Now I want this at all times."
When you moving around with these dudes every day,
it's a different bond you don't even got to talk about.
Like, you just feel that energy, you know.
And that's why I love it so much.
[commentator] And USA has it to start. We're underway.
[Kerr] With 12 NBA starters and champions,
these guys are all deserving of starters' minutes.
But in a couple-week tournament?
It's… just win.
[commentator] LeBron James, bringing the thunder!
[Kerr] For that to happen, all the guys have to buy in. And they all have.
[commentator] Kevin Durant, the all-time US leading Olympic scorer.
Kevin… He was nursing a little calf injury.
He hadn't played in a month.
[commentator] Kevin Durant, back after not playing any of the exhibitions,
will come off the bench.
My respect for the game is that you gotta listen to the coach
and respect what the coach wants you to do.
[commentator 1] And Jokić, showing off some magic early.
[Kevin] I just told him, whatever he wanted me to do.
Want me to start, I'll do that, come off the bench, I'm cool with that.
[commentator 1] And there's a drive, and Avramović skies high.
Now Dobrić comes up with a steal.
[commentator 2] A flurry of punches landed at the beginning of the game by Serbia.
[Kevin] I was sitting over there,
and trying not to think too much about it.
I just tried to get mentally prepared.
[commentator 1] Adebayo comes up short. Now, Serbia looking to run once again.
Dobrić all the way inside.
Serbians have come out with life.
[Kerr] Kevin, right? Kevin! Kevin!
[dramatic music rises slowly]
Book.
[commentator 1] Here he is, folks. Kevin Durant.
[commentator 2] Every single Olympics, he has been a terror for opponents.
- [commentator 1] Kick, swing, Durant. - [commentator 2] There you go.
[commentator 1] Off the bench, into the scoring column.
- Yeah. - [crowd cheers]
[Kevin] Here… you don't make the right play,
a megastar is right behind you that can replace you, you know.
So it's that "paranoia" that you have of, like, you know…
I want to be perfect out here.
I practice that, you know, being on that level at all times.
So I don't have to get myself up for it. It's always there.
[dramatic music intensifies]
I just try to keep the game as simple as I can.
You know, if I'm open, I try to score.
[commentator] Kevin Durant, two-for-two.
If I'm not, I swing the ball.
If there's two people on me, I try to get off the ball.
[commentator 1] That's gonna lead to the alley-oop pass!
And Edwards jams it home.
[Kerr] I feel like we might need to be a little careful with Kevin.
Alright.
- I know he's coming off an injury. - Yeah.
- Hot too, though. - He's hot!
[Hill] I felt like he would give us something.
I don't think anyone thought he'd catch fire like that.
- [commentator 1] For three! - [commentator 2] What's his name?
[both commentators] You know who he is.
[Kerr] Holy shit!
It's just a gratifying feeling, when you see that ball go through the rim.
[commentator 1] Durant, over Jokić. Oh yeah!
Kevin Durant is lethal!
Wanna get him out? [chuckles]
Some people basketball players. [chuckles] Some people are role-players.
They're good teammates.
He's a hooper.
KD needs a basketball and a rim, and he's gonna be KD.
That's a purist in the game of basketball.
[commentator 1] Kevin Durant, splash!
[commentator 2] Have we ever seen anything like this?
He played one time in a month, and then goes out
and just puts on… a Kevin Durant performance.
[commentator 1] Two-for-one opportunity, Durant takes advantage. For three!
- Kevin Durant is making it rain. - [commentator 2] Okay.
[crowd roaring]
Holy shit! He's so fucking good.
He's so fucking good.
[commentator 1] The United States get it done.
[air horn sounds]
- And the final score, USA 110, Serbia 84. - [commentator 2] This guy right here…
- [crowd noise fading] - [solemn music playing]
I can't walk around with my gold medals on.
[solemn music continues]
But the memories, all the experiences.
The journey…
The plane rides, the bus rides, the practices…
I can carry that around with me every day.
But medals? I'm not about to have that in my pocket, or around my neck every day.
[commentator 1] You could make the argument,
this is the greatest scorer in international basketball history.
[Kevin] I can walk around with all this experience, and all these stories,
and all of this knowledge that I got from this, that can truly help somebody.
[commentator 2] Doesn't seem possible that he could be this good,
but we've been watching him for quite some time.
[commentator 1] Oh my!
Oh my!
I looked in the crowd, it's 27,000 people
from all walks of life, all different countries.
[distant cheering]
[voice wavering] Coming together for basketball, man, it's just, like…
It's incredible to see that.
So as much as I can, like, bring us together that way,
that's what I try to do.
[interviewer] I can tell how much this means to you.
[tearfully] Nah, for sure. Fuck…
For sure, 'cause it's like…
I come from neighborhoods where people don't even talk to each other like…
Um…
So much hate in the world too, it's like…
When you finally… When people get to start laughing and joking for the game of ball…
Like, it's cool to me. So like, it gets me emotional, dawg.
Like, um… My bad. [chuckles]
[interviewer] No, you're good.
It's crazy to see, 'cause it's like…
It's crazy to see people… somebody say they traveled so long
to come see their favorite player play in the Olympics.
They spend their money, they bring their whole family, like…
It's just dope to me.
The game just saved my life, so…
[sniffs softly]
It brought me and my family out of a lot of bullshit, so I'm just grateful for it.
For real.
- [distant cheering] - [solemn music continues]
[hopeful music builds slowly]
[music fades out]