via Imago

While Stephen Curry sits at home following his early play-in tournament exit, his duties for the year are not over. Only three months from now, the Baby-Faced Assassin will represent the USA in the Paris Olympics, for the first time in his Hall of Fame career. Yes, as surprising as it may sound, Steph has never participated in the Olympics. And the 4-time Champion cannot wait to finally tick that box on his checklist while watching other world-class athletes like Noah Lyles do their thing in Paris.

After awarding Steph with this season’s Clutch Player of the Year trophy, a curious Charles Barkley asked him how he felt after being selected for his first Olympics appearance. To that, Steph replied, “I am beyond excited.” And apart from teaming up with legends like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, and playing for a familiar head coach in Steve Kerr, a patriotic Steph was looking forward to watching the festivities in Paris and enjoying the performance of other USA stars. “It’s something you can’t really imagine… opening ceremonies, and going to see other athletes do their thing in their respective competitions.” Steph remarked.

via Reuters

And in that mix of athletes representing the USA also lies six-time World Champion Noah Lyles, who took the NBA World by storm with his viral comments last year. After going 3 for 3 at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest, the track and field star questioned the legitimacy of NBA Champions calling themselves World Champions. With that, came his iconic statement, “World Champion on what? The United States?” And fans will look closely as Stephen Curry and the rest of the NBA players play in the same city as Lyles to represent their nation.

Can Stephen Curry win the only missing accolade from his resume?

After Steph expressed excitement for his first Olympics appearance, he also hinted that it might be his first and last shot at winning Olympic gold, “I’m 36 now, I don’t know if I’d have another one, So, this is definitely the year.” He said to close the interview. Unfortunately, for various reasons, Steph missed the 2016 and 2020 Olympics despite being arguably the best point guard in the league at the time. And a victory in Paris will enhance his already stacked Hall of Fame resume.

Just because Steph has not played in the Olympics does not mean that he does not have experience playing International basketball. By having represented the USA in the 2010 and the 2014 FIBA World Cup, and winning Gold on both occasions, Steph made his mark at the International level at an early age. But he was not the Steph that we know today. Instead, the Warriors superstar was in the early days of his career and that reflected in his performance.

In the 2010 tournament, Curry averaged only 4.6 points, something which seems an anomaly while watching him play today. Well, it got a little better in 2014, as his average increased to 10.7 points in nine games. But this year, the NBA World will get to witness Steph’s greatness at its maximum potential. And hopefully, he will return home with a gold medal, finally accomplishing his goal, while redeeming USA’s 2023 loss at the FIBA World Cup.