I make reference to the Paris silver medalist as the famous fictional kaiju because that’s what the superstar center reminds me of every time he speaks. Seriously, every terrifying quote coming from this young man is akin to Godzilla narrating his destructive ascent on some hapless metropolis.

I get a chill down my spine every time Wembanayama talks like this because you know he’s going to back it all up. These Olympics were proof:

After finishing his rookie NBA season as the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, Wembanyama used Paris as another springboard. He was named the Rising Star of the tournament and at the age of 20, was named to the All-Star Five alongside names like Nikola Jokic, Steph Curry, and LeBron James — all bona fide generational talents and future no-doubt Hall of Famers.

On a statistical basis, the San Antonio Spur prodigy was a marvel, too. The big man averaged 15.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game in Paris. He was expected to be the French lynchpin on a team few actually saw qualifying for the gold medal game before the Olympics, and he elevated his nation.

None of this is to say that Wembanyama, while already special on defense, is a finished product. His offensive decision-making, especially his shot selection, still leaves much to be desired for a dynamo who is usually bigger and more athletic than everyone on the court. He’s also going to have to get much stronger to hang with the beefier forwards and centers of the NBA while hovering less around the perimeter. It would be a waste of Wembanyama’s talents for him to mainly be a stretch-five on offense — which is kind of what he is … right now.

But everything about Wembanyama’s dedication to his craft suggests he understands his shortcomings. These additions to his game don’t have to come all at once and will arrive accordingly anyway. It seems like it’s a matter of if not when the Frenchman becomes the most complete all-around men’s basketball player in the world. Remember, he’s only 20 years old. (Shudders.)

When that day finally arrives, when Wembanyama has the complete package, please keep everyone in the NBA in your thoughts. Wembanyama’s “atomic breath” will cause so much unmitigated chaos and will be impossible to stop.

Look, I’m not going to pretend that Team USA will ever be an underdog on the international stage. The United States has too much sheer volume of talent and overall resources to ever be considered an upstart. Even if this really was LeBron James’, Steph Curry’s, and Kevin Durant’s last Olympics, the next generation led by Anthony Edwards should be in a healthy place regardless of any possible downturn. It’s just reality.

With all of that said, it’s hard to come away from this Olympics thinking the USA will be unchallenged moving forward. If anything, I think we can definitively say the days of the 40-50-point humiliating USA blowouts are over. And judging by a confident Durant statement from March, the national program probably did not see this coming. Team USA was expected to cruise through this Olympics en route to another gold medal. Instead, Serbia and France gave the Americans everything they could handle in the medal rounds.

That’s likely not going to change come Los Angeles 2028.

Victor Wembanyama will be in the middle of his prime while France is bolstered with healthy, youthful additions like Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr. The Serbians have established one of the strongest basketball programs in the world. With high-level prospects like Nikola Topic potentially coming into their own, they are only poised to build on their Paris bronze success around Nikola Jokic, who also isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The same can be said for Germany, which has gamed international basketball like no one else. A relative disappointment during these Olympics, don’t expect Canada and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to lay on the mat for long.

Factor in FIBA rules that allow defenders to be more physical and the smaller court dimensions and this is simply an arena where the Americans won’t be able to overwhelm the competition with supremely dominant talent as they have so often in the past.

Even if they’ll have more overall firepower than everyone, the intimidation factor just isn’t the same. In a single-elimination format, where timely shooting luck can really help underdogs prevail after group play, no one is as scared of Team USA as they used to be. It’s a sign of the times.

It’s been a tough few months for the Nuggets organization, to say the least.

In mid-May, the then-NBA reigning champions blew a 20-point lead in a home Game 7 to the rival Minnesota Timberwolves. Roughly six weeks later, quality fifth starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope jumped ship to the Orlando Magic in free agency. Then, in the Olympics, after suffering through one of the worst postseasons of his career — largely due to an unfortunate calf strain — Jamal Murray looked like an empty shell of himself for Canada in the Olympics with the NBA season only about two months away.

As grim as this summer has been at the Eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, three-time MVP Nikola Jokic remains Denver basketball’s saving grace. The Paris Olympics were a palate-cleansing reminder for the wounded Nuggets, a reassurance that they’ll likely always be a heavyweight title contender as long as Jokic is firing on all cylinders.

From start to finish for bronze medalist Serbia, Jokic used this FIBA tournament as a tool to strengthen his grip on his unofficial “best player in the world” title. Over six games, Jokic averaged 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 2 steals, and a block while shooting 53.8 percent from the field. He was the Serbians’ expected offensive fulcrum and even showcased more defensive playmaking, particularly with his hands in passing lanes, than some have come to expect from him. By the tournament’s end, Jokic was officially the fourth different player in men’s Olympic history to notch a triple-double and became the first player ever to lead the entire Olympic field in total points, rebounds, and assists. Not to mention that he easily played the most minutes of anyone (32.5 per game) without missing a beat.

Now I want to know where he got this awesome “15” chain. Aaron Gordon, was it you?

After falling short of an NBA championship repeat, a bearded Jokic showed an edge to him that we don’t often see during the Olympics. He turned on the defensive intensity and utilized his all-around offensive game to bring home a medal for his country. Before these Olympics began, I had questions about concerning mileage on Jokic’s basketball odometer and whether he’d be able to fix his currently somewhat broken jumper. Jokic’s sparkling run instead told me that he’s got a lot more left in the tank than he lets on and that I probably shouldn’t be too concerned about a technically sound player sharpening up his fundamentals by the time he’s playing 3-4 NBA games a week in a few months.

All this to say: You might have picked the best possible spot to chase a ring at age 35, Russell Westbrook.

Three transcendent, all-time players defined the last two decades of men’s basketball.

You have LeBron James, the prodigious forward, perhaps the greatest basketball player in history, who lived up to all the hype the moment he jumped to the NBA from high school. There’s Kevin Durant, arguably the greatest pure scorer the game has ever seen, a certified bucket-getter from any spot on the court. Of course, there’s Steph Curry, who, with his prolific 3-point shooting, might be the most influential talent in the sport in the last quarter-century.

In the Paris Olympics, in what might have been this trio’s first and final run together for Team USA, they wrote a chapter that could be seen as a fitting cap to the last 20 years.

When the Americans needed someone to wear every hat, James stepped in with aplomb. When they needed someone to score in isolation, to get an undefendable shot, they leaned on Durant. When they just needed someone to bomb deep 3-pointers with no regard for human life, they called Curry’s number. In the most competitive men’s basketball Olympics ever, Team USA needed each of these all-time greats to maintain its hold over the international basketball order. If even one of James, Durant, or Curry didn’t play in Paris, hindsight says it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine a French or even Serbian gold medal instead.

I’m not sure what’s next for this American trio, but I’ll make my best guesses.

The 39-year-old James seems poised to eventually begin his extended retirement tour from the NBA. But I wouldn’t be shocked if his Los Angeles Lakers were competitive title contenders during that time. Barring some kind of blockbuster move, the 36-year-old Curry is likely playing out the string with the Golden State Warriors, adding to his individual accolades and catalog of breathtaking moments for a few more years before finally hanging his sneakers up. I wouldn’t be stunned if the Warriors made a trade to get Curry a new worthy sidekick. I would, however, be surprised if he ever wore another NBA team’s jersey. Don’t hold your breath there.

As for the 35-year-old Durant, his immediate future seems to be the most murky. Other than adding competent floor general Tyus Jones, the Phoenix Suns haven’t made many marked improvements this offseason. They have largely the same exact top-heavy roster that flamed out in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Durant and running mate Devin Booker are so special that I’ll never count out Phoenix outright, but the Suns remain too flawed overall to count as a premier team. That paints the picture of Durant riding off into the sunset, steadily rising up the all-time scoring list, and perhaps finishing in the top five by the time he retires while accomplishing nothing else of major note on a team basis.

I’ll never rule it out entirely, but we’ve likely seen the last of James, Curry, and Durant at the NBA’s summit. Father Time is undefeated, after all. And even if we will probably only get individual memories of their brilliance moving forward, the Paris Olympics might soon be viewed as one last perfect glimpse at the magic this trio has created together for a long time.

The very nature of FIBA basketball and how rosters shape up lends itself to changing around some players’ responsibilities on the court. While this sentiment holds true for a lot of guys, it was most evident for three difference-making NBA players playing for three different nations in Paris.

For the USA, it was Devin Booker. On the Suns, Booker’s job is to get buckets. Full stop. He’s an explosive, crafty scorer with a complete offensive bag. When Booker is feeling it, and in rhythm, no one can stop him. But for the Americans, Booker was not high in the pecking order. On a team rife with other scoring talent and generational greats, Booker had to play the role of a good soldier, a “hustle” player who focuses on making little winning plays first before getting the ball through the hoop. Booker was terrific with this job, showing off more tenacity and toughness on the defensive end than his reputation has previously said.

He fulfilled his promise:

It’s a good lesson for the Suns. If you ever want your franchise player to turn up on the dial on the other end of the court, Booker probably can!

For Serbia, it was Bogdan Bogdanovic. The Atlanta Hawks shooting guard already had esteem for being a lights-out, world-class sharpshooter. When Bogdanovic gets into a groove, he’s liable to set the net on fire. But in Atlanta, the team isn’t necessarily relying on the veteran as an offensive hub. Sure, he’s expected to create his own shot at times, but he’s much more of an ancillary, spot-up piece to Trae Young’s creation. This wasn’t the case with Serbia. His country asked Bogdanovic to be more of an aggressive scorer, a primary initiator, and he didn’t disappoint. He showed that if he’s allowed to spread his wings a little more on offense, he could create more fireworks for the Hawks.

He earned the right to channel some good ole’ Carmelo Anthony:

Finally, while Canada had a deflating finish, RJ Barrett was a revelation. Over four Olympic games, the Toronto Raptor averaged 19.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1 steal, and he acted as a veritable two-way perimeter demon. Outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say Barrett was the most valuable Canadian player on the roster. In a role that empowered his slashing skill set, Barrett looked really comfortable in his own skin. After becoming a relative afterthought on a poor Raptors team, Toronto could do well to give Barrett even more confidence as he starts the next phase of his NBA career in earnest.