The USA Basketball Team indulged in a tradition during the latter stages of the 2024 Paris Olympics. LeBron James and the remaining 11 players sat on the Accor Arena steps and got photos clicked. With the final Masters 1000 tournament of the season scheduled at the same venue, the ATP got Taylor Fritz to recreate this iconic photo.
Fritz has received a first-round bye at the Rolex Paris Masters 2024. With more time on his hands than the other participants, the World No.6 could fulfill media obligations.
It was only right that the organization picked the current best American tennis player to recreate the iconic photo. However, the math doesn’t add up. Tennis is a single-player sport, while the basketball team photo featured 12 athletes.
The tournament organizers had a solution for this problem – Fritz would be imitating all the 12 players.
“Like every single person is me? Oh jeez, so I have to do every pose?” Fritz asked the organizer.
Fritz began with Stephen Curry’s pose, finished with Jrue Holiday’s pose, and recreated the photo perfectly.
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This entire process would’ve been extremely time-consuming and tedious. But considering that Fritz is a huge fan of LeBron James and the other NBA superstars, he appeared patient and was very cooperative.
Fritz reflects on meeting LeBron James and co. at the 2024 Olympics
The tennis and basketball contingents were seen together on the USA’s boat during the Olympics’ opening ceremony. Enjoying the quadrennial event alongside LeBron James and the other superstars was a surreal moment, one that Fritz will always cherish.
“We did kind of get to experience the opening ceremonies a little bit differently than all the other Americans because we were upfront with the basketball players. We were just right in the front, on the boat in the opening ceremonies. It was one of the coolest experiences,” Fritz said.
Both parties – Fritz and Steve Kerr’s basketball side – made the nation proud by adding to the medal tally.
The USA Basketball Team, regarded by many as the greatest squad ever assembled, witnessed the likes of James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry on the roster. The team did face a huge challenge in the semifinal – trailing by 17 points against Serbia – but was able to pull off a historic win. Eventually defeating the hosts, the USA won gold.
Fritz suffered an early exit in the singles event. But, alongside Tommy Paul, the duo had a successful bronze medal run in the doubles event.
