Olympics basketball LIVE: USA v France updates as NBA stars LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama face off

LeBron James has set the tone with a dazzling dunk to kick things off, but France responded with a great spell, as Victor Wembanyama looks to establish his authority on the game too.

The two teams remain difficult to seperate at this early stage, with the USA leading 12-11 after the first foul was committed.

An insane start as a dunk from LeBron James is followed by a three-pointer from Wembanyama! The home crowd are roaring every USA turnover, but they appreciated that LeBron dunk.

Durant drains a three to put the USA back in front.

NBA stars LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Victor Wembanyama will be in action on the court shortly, as the USA looks to win their fifth consecutive Olympic title in basketball, while France hopes to claim their first.

Both teams looked impressive in the semi-finals, defeating Serbia and Germany respectively.

Now, the time has come to for both heavyweights to go for gold.

An incredible atmosphere in Paris and the stars are out on the France bench, with Thiery Henry and Olympic heroes Teddy Riner and Leon Marchant on the front row.

Joel Embiid will embrace the villain role when he lines up for the United States against France in the Olympic basketball gold medal match in Paris tonight.

Born in Cameroon, the NBA star chose to represent the USA over France at the Olympics and he has been loudly booed by the French fans during the tournament so far.

Embiid has responded to the boos, taking on the crowd and telling them to “suck it” after the USA defeated Serbia in the semi-finals on Thursday, but the reaction is set to go up another level when he takes on France.

Predictably, he was booed when introduced out onto the court.

We’re almost ready to go in the Bercy Arena.

LeBron James has a pair of gold shoes for the occasion.

No wonder he quickly earned himself the nickname “The Alien”, while LeBron James said he was “a generational talent”. Indeed, Victor Wembanyama became the No 1 prospect ahead of the NBA Draft and the hype surrounding him was the most for anyone entering the league since James almost 20 years ago. Wembanyama delivered, taking the NBA by storm and boosting ticket sales of the San Antonio Spurs, who won the lottery to select him with the No 1 pick.

Although only a year into his NBA career, Wembanyama is now arguably only second to French football superstar Kylian Mbappe in terms of global fame. Although, with Mbappe missing the Olympics after featuring for France at Euro 2024 and moving to Real Madrid earlier in July, Wembanyama will find himself at the centre of attention in Paris as France bids for gold against the United States.

Although just 20, France’s basketball superstar Victor Wembanyama is quite literally the biggest name for the host nation at the Olympics.

The 7’4” phenomenon is returning home after a standout first season in the NBA in the United States. His arrival to the league had been highly anticipated for years, as social media clips of the giant “Wemby” and his basketball skills went viral. What became clear in the videos of Wembanyama that routinely broke the internet in the United States is the player with an eight-foot wingspan did not just have height to his advantage, but a combination of mobility, coordination, power and accuracy, too.

The comeback kept Kevin Durant’s hopes of becoming the first four-time Olympic men’s gold medalist very much alive, and gave the U.S. a chance to return to the international basketball mountaintop. The Americans were fourth at the World Cup last summer, a result that spurred some NBA stars like James and Curry to be part of this team.

And of all the U.S. semifinal moments, this was like few others. The four-point final margin was the second closest in American history in the Olympic semifinals; the U.S. beat Lithuania by two in the 2000 semifinals in Sydney, on the way to gold there.

They’re one win away from another.

“I’m 39 years old, going into my 22nd season, I don’t know how many opportunities and moments I’m going to get like this to compete for something, compete for something big and play in big games,” LeBron James said. “And tonight was a big game.”