Haliburton, USA men’s basketball win Olympic gold medal

PARIS (WISH) — Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is an Olympic gold medalist.

Haliburton and the USA men’s basketball team beat France in the gold medal game by the final of 98-87.

Guard Steph Curry came up clutch for the Americans late in the fourth quarter. He finished with a team-high 24 points after shooting 8-of-13 from 3-point range.

“It’s right up there with all of the greatest games of his career,” USA men’s basketball head coach Steve Kerr said, according to a news release from USA Basketball. “The shot-making was just incredible. But under the circumstances, you know, on the road, in Paris, against France for a gold medal. This is storybook stuff, but that’s what Steph does — he likes to be in storybooks.”

Forward LeBron James had a double-double for the U.S. after scoring 14 points and dishing out 10 assists. He was named MVP.

“I’m just living in the moment,” James said, according to the news release. “Super-humbled that I can still play this game, play it at a high level, play with 11 other great players, with a great coaching staff and to go do it for our country was a great moment.”  

With the victory, forward Kevin Durant made history, becoming the first four-time gold Olympic medalist in men’s basketball. He added 15 points in Saturday’s win.

Haliburton did not play a single minute in the gold medal game. He posted the following on X, formally known as Twitter, having fun with the fact he did not play on Saturday:

It’s the USA men’s basketball team’s fifth-straight Olympic gold medal. The last time the USA failed to win gold at the Olympics was in 2004 in Athens.

It was the fourth time that the USA and France have faced each other in an Olympic gold medal game.

Haliburton had previously won a gold medal before, just not in the Olympics. He won gold as a player on Team USA in the 2019 FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup in Greece.