LILLE — This city in northern France has a population of 240,000. But the past week, there has been an invasion. Tens of thousands of basketball fanatics have bombarded Lille since it’s hosting the Olympic elimination games.
Lille is 16 kms. away from Belgium — and 225 kms. from Paris. Last Wednesday, it took Jasmin, Jana, and myself over 2.5 hours to travel here from our place of stay near Centre Pompidou.
The problem: the USA vs. South Sudan game was 9 p.m. and the trains (back to Paris) stop at 11 p.m. The buses were fully-booked. We ended up staying overnight in Lille. Was the stay worth it? Absolutely.
Pierre Mauroy Arena is the behemoth venue that transforms from a sprawling football pitch to an arena for concerts/sports. It seats 50,000 and offers a retractable roof.
Our day began at 11 a.m. when we watched the women, Spain vs. Puerto Rico. With a few seconds left, Puerto Rico, ranked No. 11, led by a point against the world No. 4 Spain. But the Spaniards prevailed, 63-62.
China vs. Serbia started at 1:30 p.m. I was looking forward to seeing Zhang Ziyu, all of 7-foot-3 and considered the tallest female basketball player of all time. But the 17-year-old from China did not play. Serbia dominated, 81-59.
TEAM USA. Sunset here is at 9:27 p.m. And so it was all sunny and bright before 9 p.m. when we entered the Pierre Mauroy Arena — many traveling from all parts of the globe to watch Steph and KD. Was this the greatest team ever assembled? The likes of Jokic, Wembanyama, Gilgeous-Alexander, Murray, Gobert and Antetokounmpo will try to disprove this and the Dream Team and Redeem Team fans will dispute that. But what’s undeniable is that this is one of the best-ever teams assembled.
USA vs. South Sudan. On paper, the two appear mismatched. The US is No. 1 while SSD is No. 33. But the last time the teams met, South Sudan led by one point before LeBron scored the winning basket. It was a great escape. Last Wednesday, there was no such close contest.
Steph Curry attempted six three-pointers. All six missed. The greatest shooter in history suffered a rare off-night, scoring three points. Jayson Tatum’s first shot from the corner hit the side of the backboard. It didn’t matter.
When you have The Avengers playing, everybody’s a star.
Derrick White scored 10 points on 3-for-3 in three-pointers. The game’s best player: Bam Adebayo, top-scoring with 18. Kevin Durant, despite facing injury concerns weeks earlier, was unstoppable, tallying 14 points. Anthony Edwards dazzled the crowd with his footwork, showcasing an array of side-steps, behind-the-back dribbles, and between-the-legs dance moves. Devin Booker scored 10.
The surprise was Joel Embiid, last year’s NBA MVP, who did not play. Everytime his name was mentioned, he was booed (he became a French citizen in 2022 but opted to play for Team USA).
In the end, US beat South Sudan, 103-86.
The star of the night was LBJ. Countless fans wore the Lakers No. 23 jersey. He scored eight of the team’s first 10 points. Each time his name was mentioned or his face shown on the LED screen or he slammed a dunk, the fans erupted in cheers. To the 27,056 spectators, the superstar was America’s Olympic flag bearer.