PARIS — From breakfast with Giannis to a nightcap with LeBron, this was the greatest day of basketball that has ever been played in a single location.
Maybe Bercy Arena — mostly known for hosting tennis and handball tournaments — is an unlikely host for such a moment, but welcome to the quarterfinals of Olympic basketball, a 13-hour frenzy of hoops like has never before been seen.
Nothing against some great state high school tournament or the Final Four or even Rucker Park, but Tuesday was like the first day of March Madness at some sub-regional site only with packed crowds of over 15,000 for all four games; not swaths of empty seats because one team’s boosters are out to dinner.