PARIS : Dutch wizard Worthy de Jong denied hosts France the perfect conclusion to the 3×3 basketball tournament at the Paris Games but the sport’s second Olympics, and first in front of fans, will still go down as a huge success.
Big, noisy crowds packed into the city centre venue on the Place de la Concorde and enjoyed close games, giant karaoke sessions and pumping tunes blasted out by DJs in an echo of the sport’s urban roots.
Four-times NBA champion LeBron James, former NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki and Olympic swimming great Katie Ledecky were among the big names who sat courtside cheering on their compatriots.
The Americans were to be disappointed as their men’s team, which failed to qualify for Tokyo, bowed out before the medals rounds after losing their best player, college standout Jimmer Fredette, to injury for four of their seven games.
The women, who won the first gold medal three years ago in front of stands left empty because of COVID, started with three straight losses before finding their stride and capturing a bronze medal.
Nowitzki went home happier after watching the German women, superbly organised around their tower of control, Sonja Greinacher, secure the gold medal with a 17-16 victory over Spain.
The French women also made an early departure but the local men, making their Games debut after missing Tokyo, put together a string of upsets to come tantalisingly close to a gold medal.
They beat pre-tournament favourites Serbia in a playoff, handed Tokyo champions Latvia their first defeat in the semi-finals and were leading the Netherlands by a point with seconds left in the final.
De Jong, though, produced one of those bursts of brilliance that make for unforgettable sporting moments when he equalised in last seconds of regulation and sealed the title for the Dutch with a two-point, long-range shot in overtime.
“I think we showed the whole world in the best way possible what this sport is about, and what it can bring to the world stage”, said his teammate Arvin Slagter.
