Thursday was the most a Team USA fan got spooked since LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant‘s Team Avengers assembled. In the 4 games they played before the Serbia game in the semis, Team USA had next to no problems overcoming the challenge. But the experience against Serbia was something unlike what they faced before. It took the old heads to guide the team to the gold medal match, something the young blood of the team failed to do last year.

In the FIBA World Championship semifinal game, Germany stunned Team USA in a match that could’ve gone the other way, had Team USA possessed the kind of experience they have in this Olympics. The 2023 squad consisted of the likes of Anthony Edwards (22) and Tyrese Haliburton (24) who failed to get the job done, forcing LeBron James’ hands.

This was a point of discussion during the latest episode of The Odd Couple podcast featuring Chris Broussard and Ephraim Salaam. While breaking down Team USA’s encounter with Serbia, Ephraim highlighted the need for experience and the importance of maturity to get over the line in an international basketball game. “You know what you need, to be good in international basketball, especially the Olympics. You need maturity,” the former NFL star said.

“Not necessarily the most talent or most athletic. You need maturity because without maturity, the US team down 13, 14 going into the 4th. Remember, these are 10-minute periods. Athleticism is not gonna get you back. Right? You’re gonna try to out-athlete them. And you’re going to put yourself and your team in a situation where panic has set in. Right? Because, yeah, you can go down and you can get a dunk, but you can come back down and get miss a defensive rotation and give up a 3,” Ephraim added.

That’s exactly how Team USA lost to Germany last year. But this time, there was no lack of maturity. In the final quarter of the game against Serbia, Steve Kerr had all his veterans on the court. LeBron, Curry, Durant, Joel Embiid, and Jrue Holiday were on the court, and they handled the business with composure. Team USA was down by 13 points going into the final quarter of the game. Joel Embiid’s flurry of 7 points, Steph and KD’s 3s, and LeBron’s driving runs turned the game, as USAB secured a 95-91 win.

“The maturity takes advantage of the few opportunities you have to make an impact and make a run. That’s why Lebron, Steph, KD, that’s why they’re great. That’s why they’re needed this Olympic season,” added Ephraim.

LeBron’s plan of bringing in the experienced heads together for the Olympics paid off. Team USA is only a step away from their 5th consecutive gold medal at the event. The maturity and the calmness in the team stem from LeBron himself and his HC couldn’t agree more.

LeBron James’ influence on Team USA gets praised

When LeBron James declared his intentions to end his 12-year hiatus to play for the Olympic team, it kick-started the assembling of the Team USA we have today. A team so stacked that even the NBA champion, Jayson Tatum, hardly got a minute in the Games. But when an Olympic gold medal is the only focus, these sacrifices must be made. The team has embraced this mentality, and LeBron James played a role in spreading it.

“It’s so fun to see him up close and get to know him a little bit and watch him with his teammates. I mean there’s a reason he’s LeBron James – to see him at 39 doing everything he’s doing, dominating games, leading practices, setting an example for everybody. He’s incredible,” Kerr said before Team USA’s first game in the event. Now at the door of a historic game, not much has changed from how it started. LeBron at 39, is leading the Olympic MVP race, but his contribution is far beyond that on the hardboard.

“LeBron puts his imprint on the game in so many different ways,” Kerr said in a post-game interview. “It’s not just his skill and his strength and his size, but it’s his emotion, his confidence, just the way he infuses our team with energy and confidence at 39. It’s just amazing.”

Team USA will hope for one last ride on LeBron’s back to get over the line, as they will face France and their home support in the gold medal game. Victor Wembanyama has already vowed to give his all to keep the gold medal, but does he have the maturity to get the job done? We will get to know on August 11.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.