Summer of LeBron Ends With Gold

The Spanish balloon popped when LeBron James hammered home a dunk late in the fourth quarter. For James, who had relished his role throughout the Olympic

tournament as a facilitator rather than a scorer, it was a rare show of might, as if to punctuate the fact that, yes, he was still LeBron—the NBA's Most

Valuable Player, an NBA champion, and now, after two weeks in London, a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
James made his exit from Sunday's game shortly after dunking, and in the waning moments of Team USA's 107-100 gold medal victory over Spain, he and coach

Mike Krzyzewski embraced in front of the bench. It had been a hard-fought contest, the sort of nip-and-tuck, counterpunching affair that James and his

teammates said they wanted.

"A lot of teams have won gold easy," said James, who finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. "We didn't want it that way."

Olympic basketball can be a tough sell for fans back home: Team USA wins? Well, that was expected. But a loss? "It is a disaster," assistant coach Mike

D'Antoni said. The tournament had been more exhibition than sport as the U.S. steamrolled its way into the final, winning its games by an average of 35.7

points. But the game with Spain was different. Spain had the Gasol brothers, Marc and Pau. Spain had experience. And Spain had motivation: The game was a

rematch of the 2008 gold-medal game that the U.S. won.
One of the major plot lines was whether Spain's size would give the U.S. problems. But Krzyzewski and his staff stuck to their game plan: Team USA would go

small. It was one of the principles that Jerry Colangelo, chairman of USA Basketball, kept in mind when he and Krzyzewski assembled the roster.

"As the big man fades into the sunset around the world," Colangelo said, "there won't be any choice but to go with quickness and speed."

The wisdom of that gamble was apparent at the start of the fourth quarter when the U.S. mounted a 12-4 run to break open a one-point game. Whether it was

James working his way to the basket or Kevin Durant sinking his fifth 3-pointer or point guard Chris Paul dribbling past the 7-foot-tall Pau Gasol, Spain

could no longer contend.

It was a physical game. Recalling one of Marc Gasol's four first-half fouls, Carmelo Anthony said Gasol "tried to take my leg off." But the Americans

eventually found the space to run the court and separate themselves. "The closer the game got, the more intense we got," said Bryant, who had 17 points and

three 3-pointers.
That makes 14 gold medals in 17 Olympic appearances for Team USA, which got a game-high 30 points from Durant. Paul, who finished with 11, described the

London Games as the most fun he has had as a player. "I hate that in a couple months, these guys are going to be my enemies," he said.

Krzyzewski, 62-1 as Team USA's coach since taking over the program in 2006, joined Henry Iba as the only U.S. coaches to lead the team to gold in consecutive

Olympics. He hedged afterward when asked about his announced plans to step down from his position. "The thing that I would want to do with Jerry, and will

do, is take some time to evaluate everything," he said. "I think I can get a great meal out of this."

Over the past seven years, one of Krzyzewski's most important partnerships has been with James. As a 19-year-old in 2004, James was a bit player on a U.S.

team that settled for bronze at the Athens Games. Once Krzyzewski came aboard, James was instrumental in the national team's success. He got other NBA

megastars to buy into the ethos of the Olympics.

"I've just seen him grow immensely," Krzyzewski said. "He's the best player and he's the best leader and he's as smart as anyone playing the game right now."

He cited how James played the final five minutes of the Spain game with four fouls. He knew not to pick up his fifth.

There was an air of finality to the postgame festivities. James said he wasn't certain if he would be with the team in 2016, and it might not be his choice.

FIBA is said to be considering an age limit. Colangelo said he expects to know more in December.

After James checked out of the game, he celebrated by dousing Krzyzewski with water, then climbed to his spot on the podium. It was a fitting last act during

this, the Summer of LeBron—he went out on top.