A full 24 hours short of the closing ceremony, it felt like Paris 2024's grand finale.

So much of these Games had been building up to this, and not just in the direct sphere of the men's basketball competition. Storylines that have intertwined and run their own courses for the last fortnight all converged at Bercy Arena.

Superstars vs underdogs, the frenzied French fans against the world, young prodigies fighting for emergence against the established greats, in front of a row of celebrities with the internet poised and ready to react.

It was Léon Marchand and Mondo Duplantis and Katie Ledecky and the Turkish pistol dude and Arshad Nadeem and Simone Biles all rolled into one. 

It was US Dream Team 2.0 against Victor Wembanyama's France, roared on to within an inch of its life by the most outrageous crowd any of these men had ever played in front of.

Tickets for this game sold out months ago, long before the prospect of the dream final felt realistic. The Americans were always supposed to be here, but ninth-ranked France has relied on the hometown atmosphere to make a dramatic run.

The US had survived a semifinal scare against Serbia, but was still strong favourite for the decider — how could it not be?

Not since Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen and half a dozen more of the greatest players of all time combined for the 1992 Games has a stronger squad had a crack at Olympic gold.

The task in front of France was to somehow contain all of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis, and then hope Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid or Devin Booker didn't get them. Once that had been seen to, the French could focus on denying Jason Tatum, Bam Adebayo and Jrue Holiday.

Even if you don't follow the NBA at all, you will have heard some of those names. These are global megastars. If the game was decided by Instagram followers, net worth or NBA titles then this would have been one of the great beltings of all time.

In contrast, France comes made up of a couple of fading stars, a bunch of guys who were chewed up and spat out of the NBA to forge solid Euroleague careers, and Wemby.

There is no way to describe Wembanyama without coming off mildly insulting. He is an athlete unlike anything you've seen before — a disproportionate, unreasonably tall, wildly talented young man.

At 20 years old he is the reigning NBA rookie of the year, face of the game's future and the carrier of his nation's hopes in the biggest game it has ever seen.

The roar for Wembanyama as he entered the arena was almost as loud as the boos reserved for Embiid, who had the option to play for France at these Games but chose the US instead. When Embiid ran out, the Americans as one gestured for the crowd to keep the boos coming — hostile territory was something they were prepared to embrace.

And then the game started, instantly at warp speed.

It was like an NBA All Star game, except everybody out there cared a lot and was pretty happy to bash each other if required. The ball flew around at an electric pace, Wembanyama was irresistible and LeBron — unmissable in his golden shoes — a complete force.

Booker and Durant found their range early, Edwards took over as soon as he hit the floor, and yet France remained right there.

Much of that was driven by Wembanyama during his minutes but also by Guerschon Yabusele, a phenomenon at these Games and, in the opinion of the French crowd at least, the MVP of the tournament.

Yabusele provided perhaps the moment of the match in the second quarter when he took off directly at James for the rarest of poster dunks. His conquering of the king will live long in the memory.

For much of the second half the game felt a lot closer than it actually was. The US held a lead that flirted around the double-digit mark for the most part, but without ever feeling like they were pulling away.

It was almost as if the gravity of the occasion was forcing the game to stay close. France was having to work so hard for its buckets, but still kept coming.

Somehow the French drew the lead back to three points with about as many minutes left. Within seconds, James flicked a behind-the-back dime to Curry for three. It was stuff out of your wildest NBA 2k dreams.

That was the first of three rapid-fire Curry threes that put the game to bed. The greatest shooter of all time, in what will be his only chance to win an Olympic gold medal for his country, grabbed his jersey and roared to the heavens as his teammates on the bench signalled goodnight.

Then he hit another one, the most ridiculous and quintessentially Steph Curry of the lot. Off-balance, crowded by three defenders, without a prayer. Bang.

Perhaps the most thrilling basketballer of his generation had put on one of his greatest-ever shows. LeBron started it, Steph finished it.

The French crowd, having finally and belatedly admitted defeat, stood and applauded their own side, the legends who had beaten them but also the occasion they had been treated to.

This will never happen again. Not with this specific collection of players, but likely not with this much talent on one court at the same time at an Olympic Games.

A moment in time inside a moment in time. An unforgettable game inside these unforgettable Games. As fans of sport, sometimes we really are so lucky.