LeBron James chosen as Team USA's flag bearer at 2024 Paris Olympics

LOS ANGELES - Four-time NBA champion LeBron James will be the male flag bearer for Team USA at the Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, NBC's "Today" show announced exclusively Monday.

This is the fourth time the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is on the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team, after he was part of U.S. teams that won bronze in 2004, gold at Beijing in 2008 and gold again in London in 2012.

Fellow NBA star and first-time Olympian Stephen Curry, on behalf of the U.S. men’s team, nominated James for the flagbearer role.

"It’s an incredible honor to represent the United States on this global stage, especially in a moment that can bring the whole world together," James said. "For a kid from Akron, this responsibility means everything to not only myself, but to my family, all the kids in my hometown, my teammates, fellow Olympians and so many people across the country with big aspirations. Sports have the power to bring us all together, and I’m proud to be a part of this important moment."

James becomes the third basketball player — and the first men’s player — to carry the U.S. flag at the start of an Olympics, joining Dawn Staley for the Athens Games in 2004 and Sue Bird for the Tokyo Games that happened in 2021.

The opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics in Paris is Friday.

The female U.S. flagbearer is expected to be revealed Tuesday. The International Olympic Committee decided in 2020 that national delegations would have two flagbearers — one male, one female — at the opening ceremony at an Olympics, a move to promote gender parity.

The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.