The Top 10 basketball moments in 2024 include the Stephen Curry dagger vs. France in the Paris Olympics, the Guerschon Yabusele poster over LeBron James, the Nigel Hayes-Davis 50-point game in the EuroLeague, and many more memorable memories.
As 2024 comes to an end, it's time to take a back seat and take a look at a very memorable year for basketball and its fans.
Many memorable games, tournaments, highlights, and stories took place but BasketNews will try to do the impossible – to rank the Top 10 basketball moments in 2024.
It will include a little bit of everything – the NBA, EuroLeague, Paris Olympics, and plays that require no words.
So, without further ado, let's dive in!
Top 10 basketball moments in 2024
10. Nikola Jokic becomes NBA MVP
Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has done it again, as the Serbian center was named the 2023-24 NBA Most Valuable Player.
It marked his third MVP win in the last four seasons.
Jokic joined an elite group of players in the NBA history books. The illustrious 'MVP three-timer club' includes legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who holds the record with six MVP awards, along with Bill Russell (five), Michael Jordan (five), Wilt Chamberlain (four), LeBron James (four), Moses Malone (three), Larry Bird (three), and Magic Johnson (three).
Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists per game during the regular season. His shooting efficiency remained stellar, boasting a 58.3 percent overall shooting rate, including 35.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Nikola Jokic MVP season stats
| MIN | 2P M/A | 3P M/A | FT M/A | REB | AS | ST | TO | BS | PTS | GP |
| 34:36 | 62.6% | 35.9% | 81.7% | 12.4 | 9.0 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 26.4 | 79 |
9. Luka Doncic viral play against Victor Wembanyama
Luka creates so many incredible highlights that it's easy to forget what he did. Nevertheless, this play against Wemby will surely make his career highlights reel.
8. EuroLeague pre-season tournament in Panathenaic stadium
It's only in 8th place only because it was in a pre-season stage. Nevertheless, you know it's been good when the pre-season game makes the Top 10 basketball moments in 2024.
6th annual Pavlos Giannakopolous tournament in the historic Panathenaic stadium saw Panathinaikos, Partizan, Anadolu Efes, and Maccabi competing in an open 42,000-seat stadium.
7. Panathinaikos become EuroLeague champions
Panathinaikos came back from a 14-point deficit and captured their 7th EuroLeague title, defeating the presumed favorites Real Madrid, 95-80 (25-36, 24-18, 15-7, 31-19).
It was PAO's first EuroLeague title since the 2010-11 season. It was even more special because the Greek powerhouse was crowned champions after undergoing a complete roster revamp before the 2023-24 campaign.
Kostas Sloukas was named the Final Four MVP after playing a crucial role in the EuroLeague final. Sloukas scored 24 points and amassed 31 PIR to lead the greens to the trophy.
Sloukas also became the first player since Sarunas Jasikevicius to win the EuroLeague with three different teams.
6. New EuroLeague scoring record in a historic 4OT game in Madrid
You might wonder why the Panathinaikos EuroLeague title is below, but we crown the EuroLeague champions every year. However, we might not witness the 256-point and 4-overtime games in the EuroLeague ever again.
In January, for the first time in EuroLeague history, four overtimes were played as Real Madrid beat Anadolu Efes 130-126, combining for 256 points and breaking the tournament's all-time scoring record.
5. Guerschon Yabusele poster on LeBron James
Yep, we couldn't miss this iconic moment that might have given Yabusele the opportunity to return to the NBA.
Just watch it, the dunk speaks for itself.
4. Triple-doubles fiesta in the Olympics
Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, only three triple-doubles had been recorded. However, LeBron James and Nikola Jokic were close to doubling this tally in a single tournament.
On August 8, LeBron James registered just the fourth triple-double in Olympic Games basketball tournament history.
LeBron collected 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists to lead Team USA to a 95-91 win against Serbia in the semifinal game.
A couple of days later, Jokic joined the company as he guided Serbia to a 93-83 win against Germany in the Bronze medal game. Jokic finished the game with 19 points (7/15 FG, 1/2 3PT, 4/4 FT), 12 rebounds, and 11 assists in 38 minutes of action.
Jokic was also really close to recording two more triple-doubles in the Paris Olympics. He was short of 1 assist against Puerto Rico (14 PTS, 15 REB, 9 AST) and 1 assist against Australia (21 PTS, 14 REB, 9 AST).
Players with triple-doubles in the Olympics
| Player | Team | Stats (pts-reb-ast) | Year |
| Nikola Jokic | Serbia | 19-12-11 | 2024 |
| LeBron James | USA | 16-12-10 | 2024 |
| Luka Doncic | Slovenia | 16-10-18 | 2020 |
| LeBron James | USA | 11-14-12 | 2012 |
| Alexander Belov | Soviet Union | 23-14-10 | 1976 |
3. Nigel Hayes-Davis 50-point game
Back in March, Nigel Hayes-Davis broke EuroLeague's all-time single-game scoring record, dropping 50 points against ALBA Berlin and surpassing Shane Larkin's 49-point mark set in 2019.
Overall, Hayes-Davis finished the game with 50 points (9/11 2PT, 9/16 3PT, 5/7 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 46 PIR in just 30 minutes of playing time.
"I had it written in my notes at the beginning of the season that I wanted to break the scoring record this year," Hayes-Davis said after a 103-68 win. "Right before the game, I texted my guys Jordan and Nate and told them that I was feeling a Dejounte Murray game. I didn't know I was going to score 50, I just knew I was going to shoot the ball a lot."
2. Mike James becomes the new EuroLeague scoring king
Ahead of the March 7 game against Crvena Zvezda, James needed just 12 points to surpass Vassilis Spanoulis in the all-time leaderboard. The AS Monaco star did it in under two quarters.
James reached the record in 271 games compared to Spanoulis' 358.
"I'm not really worried about it right now, I'll celebrate it after the game," James said during halftime.
As of today, James has 4,876 points in his account. Nando De Colo is 2nd with 4,651 points, while Spanoulis is 3rd with 4,445.
1. Steph Curry dagger in the Olympic Gold medal game
An iconic moment by an iconic player on the biggest stage of basketball. Stephen Curry was struggling for the majority of the tournament, but he stepped up when it mattered the most.
Curry had already drained three in a row and seven overall that night and felt the urge to try one more. That last shot sent a wave of oohs and aahs through the Bercy Arena in Paris.
"Every shot I take, I think it's going in," said Curry during a postgame press conference. "That was at the end of a solid flurry of shots. All I saw was the rim. I didn't even see who was in front of me. I knew it was a late-clock situation. But that impressed me… I impressed myself, for sure."
Curry ended the night with 8-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc, scoring 24 points. This followed his semifinal performance against Serbia, where he hit 9 three-pointers and racked up 36 points.
Over the last two games, Curry shot an astounding 17-for-26 from deep, compared to just 5-for-20 in the first four games.
