LeBron James flag bearer: Full (sometimes controversial) history of Team USA Olympic honor

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It was Stephen Curry, perhaps the most famous first-time American Olympian this year, who nominated LeBron James and so it was Curry who broke the news to him during a meeting in front of the Team USA men’s basketball team. 

“You get to wave the flag in Paris, my man,” Curry said in footage shared on social media by USA Basketball on Monday. 

Thus James became the latest American given the honor of being the flag bearer for the United States Olympic team during the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday. James, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar, will lead the 592 American athletes in these Games as they ride on a boat along the Seine River through Paris as part of the first opening ceremony held outside a stadium.

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James is the third basketball player — and first men’s basketball player — to be a flag bearer for the United States. He will be joined by American women's tennis star Coco Gauff, who was announced as a flag bearer on Wednesday. Gauff, 20, making her Olympic debut in Paris, is the first tennis player to serve as the United States flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

James, 39, was a member of Team USA during the 2004 Athens Olympics when the United States failed to win a gold medal, but subsequently won gold with the “Redeem Team” in 2008 and again at the 2012 London Olympics. The 2024 Paris Olympics will be his first since then, and potentially, the final of his storied career.

“It’s an absolute honor and to be able to share that moment with you guys is going to make it even more memorable. So I just appreciate it, man,” James told his Team USA teammates after Curry’s announcement. “Team USA has given so much to all of us, to me over the last 20 years, and I understand right now in a country that’s so divided, I hope this moment and that moment will unite us or bring us together even for those split seconds, those hours that we travel across that water in Paris. So I will hold that responsibility with a lot of honor.”

James might be the most recognizable person to be the United States flag bearer at the Olympics, but the tradition of featuring a flag bearer during the opening ceremony at the Olympics is more than 100 years old at this point. Here’s a look back at its history, including its controversial start, and other fun facts to know about a distinction that signals the start of another Olympic Games:

Who are this year’s Opening Ceremony flag bearers for the United States?

NBA superstar LeBron James and women's tennis star Coco Gauff are the United States' flag bearers for the 2024 Paris Olympic.

Who was the first flag bearer for the United States?

The parade of nations that’s the central facet of the opening ceremony began at the 1908 London Olympics. Ralph Rose, who won Olympic gold in the shot put and also participated in the tug of war competition (yes, that used to be an Olympic event), was the first flag bearer from the United States.

Rose caused a stir when he refused to dip the flag as the Americans passed by King Edward VII.

“Olympic lore has it that Rose’s teammate Martin Sheridan said, ‘This flag dips to no earthly king,’ drawing the fury of an outraged crowd that had watched every other nation dip its flag in tribute to the British royals,” according to NBC Sports.

This subsequently became tradition — no matter the host country — and Congress later passed a law prohibiting the American flag being dipped for any person or thing. It’s now also part of the Olympic charter.

How is the United States flag bearer decided?

Team USA flag bearers are nominated and voted on by their fellow Olympic athletes. Beginning in 1992, the United States also named a flag bearer for the closing ceremony. Starting with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the United States began naming a male and female flag bearer for the opening ceremony.

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Who are the most famous American flag bearers?

In addition to James and Gauff, current South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley was the American flag bearer at the 2004 Athens Olympics Opening Ceremony. WNBA great Sue Bird, meanwhile, was the United States Olympic team flag bearer at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Michael Phelps was given the honor at the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. 

Other notable United States flag bearers at the Olympics include Al Jochim, a gymnast and German immigrant born in Berlin. He was the first non-track and field athlete to be named flag bearer for the United States during the 1936 Berlin Olympics held ahead of World War II. 

Ralph Craig is the oldest United States flag bearer, earning the honor at 59 years old during the 1948 London Olympics. Craig won track and field gold medals as a sprinter at the 1920 Antwerp, Belgium Olympics and then returned in 1948 as an alternate on the United States yachting team. 

Track and field athlete Rafer Johnson became the first Black flag bearer for the United States Olympic team at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Janice Romary, who competed in fencing, was the first female flag bearer for the United States at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

What states have produced the most Opening Ceremony flag bearers?

New York, with eight flag bearers during either the Summer or Winter Olympics, is the leading producer of flag bearers, followed by California, with six. Only 24 states overall have produced flag bearers since the tradition began in 1908.

Are there American flag bearers from outside the United States? 

Yes. There have also been five opening ceremony American flag bearers born outside the United States: Pat McDonald, one of three people to serve as flag bearer in two different Olympics (1920 and 1924) was originally from Ireland; Rolf Monsen, a skier born in Norway, was the United States flag bearer at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Germany; and Jochim, born in Germany, received the honor at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

In 1972, track and field athlete Olga Fikotova served as the United States flag bearer at the opening ceremony. She initially represented Czechoslovakia in handball and basketball before switching to the discus throw and winning a gold medal at the 1954 Melbourne Olympics. She then married American Olympian Harold Connolly and represented the United States starting in the 1960 Rome Olympics, as Czechoslovakia wouldn't allow her to compete for her home country anymore.

Most recently, track and field athlete Lopez Lorenz — originally from South Sudan — was the American flag bearer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Lorenz is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, in reference to the group of more than 20,000 Sudanese boys who were displaced or orphaned during the country’s civil war.    

Does being a flag bearer translate to Olympic medals?

Sometimes.

Of the 47 people to be the United States flag bearers at the opening ceremony of either the Summer or Winter Olympics, just 18 wound up earning a medal during the Olympic year in which they were a flag bearer. The honor of flag bearer has often been used as a nod to achievements and medals from previous Olympic Games at the end of a career. 

The good news for James and Team USA, however, is that there have only been two Olympic basketball players to be named American flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony (Staley and Bird). Each won gold medals that year. 

Complete list of United States flag bearers at the Olympics

• 1908: Ralph Rose, track and field/tug of war
• 1912: George Bonhag, track and field
• 1920: Pat McDonald, track and field
• 1924 (Winter): Taffy Abel, ice hockey 
• 1924 (Summer): Pat McDonald, track and field
• 1928 (Winter): Godfrey Dewey, president of Lake Placid Organizing Committee
• 1928 (Summer): Bud Houser, track and field
• 1932 (winter): Billy Fiske, bobsled
• 1932 (Summer): Morgan Taylor, track and field
• 1936 (Winter): Rolf Monsen, cross country skiing
• 1936 (Summer): Al Jochim, gymnastics
• 1948 (Winter): Jack Heatan, skeleton
• 1948 (Summer): Ralph Craig, track and field/yachting
• 1952 (Winter): James Bickford, bobsled
• 1952 (Summer): Norman Armitage, fencing
• 1956 (Winter): James Bickford, bobsled
• 1956 (Summer): Norman Armitage, fencing
• 1960 (Winter): Don McDermott, speed skating
• 1960 (Summer): Rafer Johnson, track and field
• 1964 (Winter): Bill Disney, speed skating
• 1964 (Summer): Parry O’Brien, shot put
• 1968 (Winter): Terry McDermott, speed skating
• 1968 (Summer): Janice Romary, fencing
• 1972 (Winter): Diane Holum, speed skating
• 1972 (Summer): Olga Fikotova, track and field
• 1976 (Winter): Cindy Nelson, skiing
• 1976 (Summer): Gary Hall, swimming
• 1980 (Winter): Scott Hamilton, figure skating
• 1984 (Winter): Frank masley, luge
• 1984 (Summer): Ed Burke, track and field
• 1988 (Winter): Lyle Nelson, biathlon
• 1988 (Summer): Evelyn Ashford, track and field
• 1992 (Winter): Bill Koch, cross-country skiing
• 1992 (Summer): Francie Larreau Smith
• 1994 (Winter): Cammy Myler, luge
• 1996 (Summer): Bruce Baumgartner, wrestling
• 1998 (Winter): Eric Flaim, speed skating
• 2000 (Summer): Cliff Meidl, canoeing
• 2002 (Winter): Amy Peterson, speed skating
• 2004 (Summer): Dawn Staley, women’s basketball
• 2006 (Winter): Chris Witty, speed skating
• 2008 (Summer): Lopez Lomong, track and field
• 2010 (Winter): Mark Grimmette, luge
• 2012 (Summer): Mariel Zagunis, fencing
• 2014 (Winter): Tod Lodwick, skiing
• 2016 (Summer): Michael Phelps, swimming
• 2018 (Winter): Erin Hamlin, luge
• 2020 (Summer): Sue Bird, basketball; Eddy Alvarez, baseball
• 2022 (Winter): John Shuster, curling; Brittany Bow, speed skating
• 2024 (Summer): LeBron James, basketball; Coco Gauff, tennis