Alright, so I had this idea today, wanted to look back at LeBron in the 2016 Olympics. You know, Rio. Thought it’d be cool to revisit some of his moments from those games.
So, first thing I did was just try to remember it myself. Felt like I watched those games, but honestly, specific LeBron plays weren’t jumping out immediately. Weird, right? Usually, you remember the big moments.
Fired up my laptop, figured I’d do a quick search. Typed in something like “LeBron James Rio 2016 highlights”. Started scrolling through the results. Found a lot about Team USA winning gold, lots about Durant, Carmelo Anthony… but not much focused on LeBron specifically in Rio.
Okay, maybe highlights weren’t the way. Decided to look for the actual roster. Went searching for “Team USA basketball roster 2016 Olympics”. Pulled up a few lists from reliable spots.
Checking the Roster
Started scanning the names: Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Draymond Green… Kept looking down the list. Butler, Jordan, DeRozan, Cousins, Lowry, Thompson… Wait a second.
No LeBron James.
Huh. I double-checked a couple of different sources just to be sure. Read a few articles from back then. And yeah, turns out my whole premise was wrong! LeBron actually decided to skip the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Totally slipped my mind. Now it made sense why I couldn’t find any highlights or specific moments – because there weren’t any! He wasn’t even on the team.
- He’d just come off that crazy Finals win with the Cavs.
- Reports back then said he needed the rest, physically and mentally.
- Totally understandable after that grind.
So, my “practice” for today ended up being a quick fact-check that corrected my own memory. It’s funny how you think you remember something clearly, but then you go to actually look it up and realize you were mistaken. I definitely watched the 2016 Olympics, cheered for Team USA, but somehow my brain inserted LeBron onto that roster. Guess I just associate him so strongly with USA Basketball from ’04, ’08, and ’12.
Well, that was my little research journey for the day. Didn’t find what I initially looked for, but I learned something (or relearned it, maybe). Still cool to remember that 2016 team winning gold, even without King James.