Throwback: LeBron James and Joel Embiid lead Team USA comeback to burn Serbia in the 2024 Olympics

With LeBron James officially joining Joel Embiid on the Sixers, it’s the perfect time to look back at the moment that basically served as a preview of this partnership.

Two summers ago, in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics, LeBron James and Joel Embiid stood shoulder to shoulder in a Team USA jersey and staged one of the great comebacks in recent international basketball history against Nikola Jokic and Serbia.

That relationship, forged in Paris, is a huge part of why Embiid was able to help recruit LeBron to Philadelphia. These two already know how to win together in the highest-pressure environment the sport offers, and now they’re going to do it for the same franchise chasing the same championship.

The Comeback That Preceded the Partnership

Serbia had Team USA on the ropes. The Americans trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half and entered the fourth quarter down 13, staring at the very real possibility of getting knocked out of the tournament before the gold medal game.

Bogdan Bogdanovic dropped 20, Jokic put up 17 points and 11 assists, and Aleksa Avramovic added 15. Serbia came out on fire and gave the United States everything it could handle.

Then Team USA flipped the switch and outscored Serbia 32-15 in the fourth quarter to steal a 95-91 win and punch their ticket to the gold medal game.

LeBron James and Joel Embiid TORCHED Jokic & Serbia

LeBron & Embiid TORCHED Jokic & Serbia🔥 pic.twitter.com/nXi0yBTn1j

— CBain (@cbain100) July 24, 2026

LeBron James and Joel Embiid Delivered When It Mattered

Stephen Curry was the headliner with 36 points and eight rebounds in his best game of the Olympics, but LeBron James and Joel Embiid were right there with him doing the heavy lifting.

LeBron posted a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, controlling the game as a facilitator and rebounder while doing all the little things that don’t always show up but win playoff-level games.

The much-maligned Joel Embiid, who took a lot of criticism throughout those Olympics, answered with a monster performance, scoring 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting including seven critical points in the fourth quarter when the comeback was happening.

Joel Embiid was a force in the paint on both ends when the United States needed it most, and LeBron James orchestrated the entire fourth-quarter surge. The two of them, plus Curry’s shot-making, erased a 17-point deficit against the best team Serbia has ever assembled.

This Is the Blueprint for the Sixers

Here’s why this throwback matters so much right now.

The chemistry between LeBron and Embiid isn’t theoretical. It’s not a projection or a hopeful guess about whether two stars can coexist. These two already shared the floor in the most pressure-packed moment of the 2024 Olympics and delivered a gold-medal-clinching comeback together.

Joel Embiid rolling to the rim and finishing while LeBron sets him up, LeBron controlling the tempo while Embiid anchors the paint, both of them raising their level when the game is on the line, that’s exactly what the Sixers are betting on for 2027.

The recruiting pitch worked in part because of this exact experience.

Joel Embiid and LeBron James built a real relationship in Paris, won gold together, and clearly enjoyed playing alongside each other. When Embiid got on the phone this summer to help bring LeBron James to Philadelphia, this Serbia game was the foundation of that conversation. They already know it works.

Now Imagine It in a Sixers Uniform

Take that 2024 semifinal performance, add Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe to the mix, and give them a full season together instead of a few weeks of Olympic play.

The comeback against Serbia was a two-week snapshot of what LeBron and Embiid can do together, and now Philadelphia gets to see it over an entire season with a championship as the goal.

The partnership that torched Serbia in Paris is coming to South Philly. The gold medal was the appetizer and the chase for the first Sixers title since 1983 is the main course.

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