PARIS — Stephen Curry just wanted to feel like one of the Olympians.
At the opening ceremony on July 26, he floated down the Seine River on a Team USA boat, surrounded by hundreds of elite athletes. But the Golden State Warriors star’s celebrity status got in the way of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“At first, I didn’t think I was just one of those guys. People were coming up to me and saying, ‘Can I take a picture?'” said Curry, 36, who is competing in his first Olympics. “That was the kind of atmosphere I had. I actually had to stop and say, ‘No, I want to know who you are and what you do, and I want to level the playing field. You’re here for a reason. ‘”
Hours later, Curry took more than 200 photos with his phone while learning about the timeless tradition of Olympic pin trading, along with other players. This would become Curry’s favorite moment off the court.
“I became a fan,” he said. “It was special.”
The members of this year’s U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team are among the most famous athletes on the planet, and their collective star power is a major reason they haven’t been in the athletes’ village during the Olympics. They’ve been cherishing the opportunity to connect with their peers and admire their performances over the past few weeks.
And as the games wind down, with Team USA set to play Serbia in the semifinals on Thursday and a possible gold medal two days later, some are already reminiscing.
When Kevin Durant was asked to pick his most memorable memory from the tournament, he answered without hesitation.
He smiled and said, “Look at Simon.”
Like LeBron, KD and Steph, legendary American gymnast Simone Biles is one of the few athletes whose Q rating is so high that she doesn’t need a last name. So on August 1, a day after the men’s basketball team beat South Sudan in pool play and two days before the U.S. rout of Puerto Rico, a group that included Durant, Curry, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Tyrese Haliburton went to see Biles play.
She won her sixth gold medal that night, winning the all-around, while fellow American Suni Lee took bronze.
“I’ve never seen gymnastics that close,” said Durant, a three-time gold medalist and Phoenix Suns star who is hoping to become the first athlete to win four titles in the program. “Of course I’ve seen it on TV, but it’s different when you see it in person. And just seeing her greatness and seeing other girls who put so much time into their craft, seeing how great they’ve become is really amazing.”
But Durant’s observations didn’t stop at thrilling results.
Until that evening, he had no idea that gymnastics was such a young sport. He had heard that Biles, 27, was considered “old” in the sport, and that there were too many gymnasts, like 16-year-old American Hazel Rivera, who became elite before they could even vote.
He cited the widespread criticism Biles received in 2021 when she pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics, despite being a gold medal favorite in most events, citing a condition called “twistiness.” Biles, who later opened up about her mental health struggles at the time, said she lost her sense of direction mid-air and decided to quit as a result. For Durant, that decision and the incredible comeback that has unfolded since are as much a part of her legend as anything that came before.
But what Durant admires most about Biles is that she isn’t afraid to tell the world how she feels, no matter what criticism she faces. On camera, on social media. Anywhere.
Durant is no stranger to scrutinizing himself, and is notorious for engaging with fans and members of the media on public platforms. In that way, and in more ways than one, Biles is now one of his inspirations.
“When people see so much potential in you at a young age, you get a lot of flak, and she’s been through it at the highest level,” Durant said. “For her to continue to come out and show her extraordinary talent every day, and also have people tell her that it’s crazy to slander her? It’s inspiring to be able to do both.”
Durant paused for a moment.
“So yeah, she inspired me to keep tweeting and keep doing what I do on the court,” he said with a laugh.
With all the American hoopers making memories, Booker is the one best qualified to actually document it. Back in 2016, when he was looking for a creative way to document his first All-Star experience in Toronto, Booker decided to go the vintage route and use a camcorder instead of his phone.
“I have really close friends who introduced me to cameras when I was a rookie, and they were like, ‘Take a Handycam with you. It feels more real than an iPhone,’” said Booker, 27, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and is competing in his second Olympics. “It feels old-school. You pay more attention, you listen more. With the iPhone camera, it’s so good.”
As the Paris Olympics rolled around, Booker was joined by two friends who helped him create online content, and he shared high-quality, well-edited videos that consistently gained traction on his Instagram feed.
“We rewatch all the footage and just cut it up,” Booker said. “The Handycam makes it easy. We just take the best moments and put them together.”
Like Durant, Booker said the chance to see Biles up close was at the top of his personal list. But there was much more to it than that.
On Sunday afternoon, Booker went to see his “good friend” American fencer Miles Chamley Watson in the bronze medal team event against France, then travelled to the Stade de France to witness Noah Lyles’ stunning victory in the 100m final that required a photo finish.
If asked to pick a favorite experience outside of Biles (it was Durant, after all), Booker said it was the trip to La Concorde on July 29 that fulfilled her passion for skateboarding more than ever.
“If you look at American skateboarders Niza (Houston), Jagger (Eaton) and Yuto (Horigome) from Japan, they’re all in the top three, and I look up to those guys,” Booker said. “I tried to skateboard, but I got away from it very quickly. But I relate to skate culture and the way they do things, and I don’t care about that.
“It was the best experience for me, going to all the different events and seeing all the other talented people from all over the world at the same time. I’m going to pass it on to my generation. I’m going to send my Handycam footage to my children’s children’s children and hope they feel that.”
Curry begins to list all the different interactions that brought him joy, and the mementos that came to him during those moments. Of course, none of them compare to the gold they all covet, but they are still special.
He got a table tennis ball signed by the U.S. women’s table tennis team when they came to watch the men’s basketball team practice. And for those wondering, that’s the same group of women who told Minnesota Timberwolves star and self-proclaimed table tennis master Anthony Edwards that none of them would score a single point on the Opening Ceremony boat ride.
Anthony Edwards thinks he can compete with the US table tennis team 😂 pic.twitter.com/30GdJOmR3G
— Sideline Source (@sidelinesources) July 27, 2024
And there are pins. There are so many cool pins.
“My favorite thing about skateboarding is my (American) skateboarding,” Curry said. “I got one from Team Jamaica, which was nice because my wife has a lot of Jamaican family on her side. And pistol shooting.”
He also has plans for photography.
“I’m sentimental that way,” he said. “So when I get a piece of art, I can actually hold onto it and six months later or six years later, I can take a bottle of wine out and look at it and reminisce a little bit. I want to have all those memories and be able to relive them.”
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(Above: Steph Curry cheering on Simone Biles: Jean Katouf/Getty Images)
