LeBron James has been named Team USA's male flagbearer for the Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday.
A two-time gold medallist in 2008 and 2012, the NBA legend was selected by his fellow Olympians ahead of what will be his fourth Games in Paris.
James, who also won bronze in Athens 20 years ago, is the first men's basketball player to achieve the honour.
The 39-year-old will lead his 591 fellow Team USA athletes along the River Seine in what will be the first summer Olympic opening ceremony held outside the main stadium.
"It's an incredible honour to represent the United States on this global stage," James said, "especially in a moment that can bring the whole world together.
"For a kid from Akron, this responsibility means everything to not only myself but to my family, all the kids in my hometown, my team-mates, fellow Olympians and so many people across the country with big aspirations."
Four-time NBA champion James, who is also the record points scorer in the league's history, will look to help Team USA to a fifth successive gold in the men's basketball - and 17th overall.
They begin their campaign against Serbia on Sunday while also playing South Sudan and Puerto Rico in Group C, with all their matches taking place at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille.
'This defeat is on me', says Jokic after Nuggets collapse
Nikola Jokic accepted blame for the Denver Nuggets' dramatic collapse to the Minnesota Timberwolves, whose late surge saw them win 119-116.
Jokic's contribution of 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds put Denver up 116-109, after he had scored two free throws with two minutes and 30 seconds left.
But the visitors surmounted a comeback, and the Serbian missed the chance to bring the scores level at 119-119 with 2.3 seconds left on the clock.
The result leaves the Nuggets languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference with just two wins from their opening five matches, and Jokic took responsibility for his poor showing.
"We had 10 or eight points in the last, I don't know how many minutes. We didn't execute, I missed basically all of my shots in the last two or three minutes," he reflected.
"They scored easily, they had open looks. This defeat is on me. I need to do a better job of getting guys involved.
"Today, I didn't do a good job. I had a turnover, I missed two turnaround jumpers, so it was a bad sequence for me."
The Nuggets had started to put a run of form together with wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors in their previous two matches, but will now face Utah Jazz feeling they need a win now more than ever.
The Timberwolves will be leaving far happier, with Anthony Edwards scoring 29 points during the victory. The guard credited the rivalry between the two teams for the grandstand finish.
"They know when they see us, they don't like us, and I'm pretty sure they know we don't like them,” Edwards said. "It's always a great game. I love going against those guys. Plus, they have got the best player in the league, so I look forward to it."
NBA: Cavaliers, Thunder remain NBA's lone unbeaten teams
Darius Garland scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 22 and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 6-0 with a 120-109 victory Friday night over the Orlando Magic, who played their first game without injured All-Star Paolo Banchero.
The Cavs are the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. The last time Cleveland started 6-0 was in 2016 with LeBron James when it lost to Golden State in the NBA Finals. The club's best start was 8-0 in 1976.
The early meeting between Orlando and Cleveland was a rematch of last season's tense opening-round playoff series won by the Cavs in seven games.
Banchero is expected to miss at least a month - and maybe longer - with a torn right oblique. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft was on an early tear, averaging 29 points with 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists before getting hurt Wednesday.
Orlando's Jalen Suggs scored a career-high 28 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists. Franz Wagner had 17 points.
The Magic hung around and were still within 10 late in the third quarter, when Cavs reserves Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill and Georges Niang all made 3-pointers in the final 2:17 to give Cleveland a 17-point lead going to the fourth.
Cleveland improved to 30-7 in Mitchell's last 37 regular-season games since January.
Thunder roll past Blazers to stay unbeaten
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points in 28 minutes and the Oklahoma City Thunder remained perfect with a 137-114 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jalen Williams added 22 points for the Thunder and Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins each had 13 off the bench as Oklahoma City improved to 5-0.
Jerami Grant led Portland with 17 points and Deandre Ayton added 14.
After the Blazers came back from down 17 to tie the game at 68 at the half, Oklahoma City outscored the Blazers 38-17 in the third quarter and Portland was never able to get back in it.
Wolves edge Nuggets in thriller
Anthony Edwards hit a go-ahead 7-foot floater with 25.7 seconds left, and Rudy Gobert iced the game with two free throws to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Denver Nuggets 119-116.
Edwards scored 29 points, Gobert had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Julius Randle added 23 points and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who recovered from a 25-3 fourth-quarter run by the Nuggets.
Nikola Jokić had 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds and hit two free throws with 2:30 left to put Denver up 116-109, before Minnesota roared back. Jokic had a chance to tie the game at 119, but Gobert forced an errant corner 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds to go.
Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 31 points and 11 rebounds in a rematch of last season's Western Conference semifinal.
Michael Porter Jr. added 26 points for the Nuggets, who lost point guard Jamal Murray to the concussion protocol in the third quarter after colliding with Randle.
Christian Braun dunked over the 7-foot-1 Gobert with 5:14 left and got even closer to his face with a taunting scream that egged Gobert into grabbing Braun by the neck. The benches cleared, shouts were exchanged, and both players got a technical.
Morant playing free as Grizzlies down Bucks
Ja Morant said he is playing with freedom after his superb performance against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Morant recorded his 12th career triple-double as he finished with 26 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in the Memphis Grizzlies' 122-99 victory over the Bucks.
The point guard even threw an alley-oop while he was sat on the court at one point in Thursday's game.
The Grizzlies moved to 3-3 for the season, while Morant is averaging 20.4 points per game.
"I play free," said Morant. "With me, you are going to deal with turnovers. I'm always trying to make the right play.
"I'm planning on taking control of the game every time. If the opposing team's point guard does, my teammates will tell you that I'll be frustrated.
"It's another game for me, the win was most important.
"That was my goal, talking with some of the teammates, and I said the goal was to get a win, and I'm going to get us one."
Speaking about Morant's ludicrous alley-oop pass, teammate Scotty Pippen Jr. said: "I thought that was crazy. I don't even know why he tried that."
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins added: "He's been building up for this, and this has been kind of part of our plan that's been rolling out."
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