Barack Obama admits he was afraid of Serbia against Team USA: "Jokic is a beast"
The Paris 2024 Olympics may be over, with Team USA claiming success in the men’s basketball event. However, the post-Olympics reactions haven’t died down yet.
The tournament even had former President Barack Obama on the edge of his seat.
The Jokic scare
The Americans had won four of the last four Olympic gold medals, dating back to a bronze medal finish in the 2004 edition in Athens, Greece. Since then, they have continued to cement their legacy, and the 2024 edition was expected to be no less different.
Team USA rallied to finish their pool play on a 100 percent win record, defeating Serbia, South Sudan, and Puerto Rico to reach the knockout phase. After seeing off Brazil in the quarterfinals, they set up another clash with the Serbians in the semis.
This time, however, the Serbian side, led by NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, wasn’t going to make it easy. It reminded the world that the rest of the competition has slowly caught up.
“Serbia got me nervous,” says the former POTUS. “I guarantee you it got the coaches nervous, too, because Jokic is a beast. I mean, he is as smart and effective a player, and he is big. So it’s not just that he’s kind of a blend of; he’s got the vision like Larry Bird and Sabonis’s dad, but he’s also just a big man, so he can just bang people in and have great hands and touch.”
The semi-final clash was the third meeting in three weeks between the two countries. Team USA was successful in the pre-Olympic test game and in the pool play. However, the difficulty level would skyrocket with the chance to advance to the gold medal game.
Fighting back to win
The Serbs put on a solid showing, scoring ten 3-pointers in the first half of the game and dominating the first three quarters. Team USA found itself behind by 13 points entering the final frame. Would this be 2004 all over again?
“I was [nervous], I didn’t think we were going to lose, but I also thought there was a possibility that we might. I like what [Anthony Edwards] said about Steph [Curry]. He said, ‘Glad you decided to show up these last three days,” Obama says.
Led by Curry, who registered 36 points and made a go-ahead 3-pointer with just over two minutes left, the Americans rallied from behind to outscore the Serbs 32-15 in the fourth quarter and eventually won the game. They defeated France in the final match to capture another gold medal.
