Paris Olympics 2024: Guerschon Yabusele throws down monster dunk on LeBron James in basketball gold medal game
A gutsy France ultimately fell short in the gold medal game, but Guerschon Yabusele commanded the attention of the basketball world with a superb display – highlighted by a monster slam on top of LeBron James.
In the second quarter of a tense men’s basketball final, Yabusele turned the corner after exploding past Devin Booker and had only legendary veteran James in the key between he and the bucket.
Yabusele launched, extended his right arm, and threw down a remarkable poster dunk as James went sprawling to the ground.
It was an incredible moment for the man nicknamed ‘The Golden Bear’, a 28-year-old power forward who briefly played for the Boston Celtics but had plied his trade for Spanish club Real Madrid for the past three years.
The dunk brought back memories of arguably the greatest in-game slam in history, which featured in a game between the same two opponents at the 2000 Olympics. On that occasion, it was USA great Vince Carter jumping over Frederic Weis in what was termed ‘The Dunk of Death’.
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He almost added another highlight slam in the fourth quarter, over both James and Steph Curry, but was fouled by the former.
Yabusele finished with 20 points to cap a terrific tournament, where he emerged as France’s second-best player behind recently-crowned NBA Rookie of the Year Wembanyama.
Steph Curry’s late three-point flurry to lead the US to a 98-87 win in the final will likely be the most lasting memory from the gold medal match, but Yabusele’s slam won’t soon be forgotten.
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