The USA men's basketball team defeated Brazil 122-87 in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday, but not before LeBron James suffered a facial injury that required four stitches.
The Los Angeles Lakers forward was elbowed in the face by Brazilian Georginho de Paula in the third quarter of the game while they were fighting for a rebound. After James was knocked to the ground, De Paula apologized. Team USA called a timeout to remove James from the game and was briefly seen on the sidelines holding a paper towel to his injured forehead before being taken back to the locker room for treatment.
LeBron left the quarterfinal game against Brazil with an elbow to the face. pic.twitter.com/xeSW3TGM6R
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 6, 2024
Still, despite playing just 17 minutes, James still had 12 points and nine assists before his injury. He later returned to the bench in the closing minutes of the game, just in time to see Team USA pull out the victory.
Team USA will then face Serbia in the semifinals on Thursday, led by six-time NBA All-Star center Nikola Jokić, who currently plays for the Denver Nuggets but will represent his country at the Summer Games. If they win, it will be Team USA's fifth gold and James' third at the Olympics.
Team USA coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the game that James needed four stitches, but praised the four-time NBA champion.
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“That's who LeBron is,” Kerr said Los Angeles Times. “For a guy who's a forward at heart to be the leading scorer in NBA history when it's secondary to what he does, it's crazy. He's obviously playing at such a high level. There's a lot of talent around him, so the game has a lot it makes sense when he's in charge.
For his part, James told ESPN NBA writer Marc Spears after the game, “I'm fine. I accidentally got hit with an elbow.”