World eyes on US NBA stars as they make Olympic debut

From US First Lady Michelle Obama to some who had never seen a top-level basketball game, people from around the worldcast their gaze upon the US Olympic Dream Team's opener with France Sunday. American flags waved inside the Olympic arena as the American collection of multi-millionaire NBA stars took the court in their first game, but Spanish and Italian banners waved as well as the atmosphere built. Australian Emily O'Hayon, wearing her LeBron James US Olympic jersey, and England's Kris Mayze, wearing his Kobe Bryant US Olympic jersey, were excited by the sounds of music and cheers echoing outside during pre-game warm-ups. "We watch the games all the time in Australia, but mostly in the bar," O'Hayon said. "We bought the tickets and were hoping to see the Dream Team. We could have sold the tickets this morning and paid for everything on the whole trip." The venue, a spartan steel square structure, covered by a free-standing white wrap to add sparkle from those viewing from a distance, has restrooms and food and souvenir stands on the grounds outside, unlike NBA venues, where short walks to beers and food, and bathrooms, bring bigger profits for club owners who own their home arena. US NBA players walked onto the court for pre-game introductions as they would for an NBA game, high-fiving with hand slaps and jumping into each other, body bumping their excitement in the moments before their quest for gold begins. Huge cheers erupted for Kevin Durant after his slam dunk 2:14 into the game, but the NBA scoring champion for the NBA Finals runner-up Oklahoma City Thunder was not finished yet. Just 64 seconds later, James delivered a perfect bounce pass half the length of the court betweem two French defenders to set up another Durant dunk that drew a ear-tingling ovation. French fans were on hand as well. Florian Madura, a Frenchman living in Cardiff and going to his first top-level basketball game, was there with his girlfriend's mother, Nathalie Charles, who came from Paris for the game. "It's all about the atmopshere. This is great," Madura said, comparing it to his thrill at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. While Madura wore a blue hat, Charles wore a French flag as a cape. She was a newcomer to the sport, thanks to her NBA-fan son, but she and Madura each had French flags painted on their faces. "For two weeks I'm learning teams and terms," she said. "You have to learn the words -- LeBron James, Tony Parker, slam dunk, 3-pointer. "It's a great day for us. Madura hoped to meet a retired NBA icon. "If we are lucky Michael Jordan is here," he said. "Sitting behind us, I hope," Charles said, lackluster about meeting an NBA icon but concerned his height might block her view of the game.