Kevin Durant didn't fully understand he was playing three Olympic games 130 miles from Paris until he reported to Team USA training camp last month in Las Vegas.
"I never thought I would come to a city like this," Durant said. "But Lille was incredible to us, I love being here."
It wasn't that USA Basketball kept the unusual format for these Olympics -- pool play in Lille before moving on to Paris -- a secret but it wasn't exactly advertised on the "Come play for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics" brochure.
But, as Durant said, the quaint northern French town with a charming city center and a giant retractable dome on its outskirts wonderfully hosted the basketball world for the past eight days.