The Paris Olympics will surely be the last that LeBron James will compete with Team USA.

Often pitted against Michael Jordan in debates, the Lakers superstar has this time been compared to boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

In 2004, LeBron James participated in the first Olympic Games of his career in Athens.

Then aged 19, he finished the competition with a bronze medal around his neck.

The following two editions, he managed to walk on the top step of the podium. At 39 today, the King is in France to compete in what is undoubtedly his last Olympics.

To end his legendary journey at the Olympics, he will aim for gold and nothing else.

Furthermore, the four-time MVP has once again made history by becoming the flag bearer for the United States delegation.

While we have been more accustomed to hearing the Chosen One compared to Michael Jordan, in his eponymous show, Dan Le Batard says he considers him more like the modern Muhammad Ali.

I don’t think we understand how unfair it is that we have been treated to such a level of excellence over a period of more than 20 years, where mockery is commonplace on social media. LeBron has always chased Michael Jordan… So to see him be the flag bearer, knowing that the flag has a different meaning than 20 years ago, is great.

He is the Muhammad Ali of this era.

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Do you know how hard it is to surpass Michael Jordan as the “ultimate winner” in people’s minds? Even Tom Brady couldn’t do it because he’s not the first.

We watched for 20 years a guy who is now carrying the American flag for the Olympics. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

We don’t give the current team any more consideration and we act like it was the time of Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.

But imagine Michael Jordan not playing for the Wizards, older than all the other athletes, and deserving to carry the flag.

How emotionally impactful would it have been to see that image? I say that because we were much kinder to him.

Muhammad Ali is not only a boxing legend, but he is also a symbol for the African-American community.

The Greatest became an iconic figure in sports the day he threw his Olympic gold medal into the river in protest of his country’s government.

Today, in a very different context, another very powerful image exists with LeBron carrying the banner of the United States.

For more than two decades, LeBron James has remained at the top of his game.

Now, he is cementing his name even further in sports history by becoming the first basketball player to be the standard-bearer for the United States, earning him comparisons to Muhammad Ali.