Kevin Durant now the gold standard for USA men's basketball
Andscape at the Olympics is an ongoing series exploring the Black athletes and culture around the 2024 Paris Games.
PARIS – The first four-time Olympic gold medalist in men’s basketball. All-time leading scorer in Olympic play by a landslide. Also, USA Basketball’s all-time leader in field goals, free throws and 3-pointers made.
In essence, Kevin Durant is now the gold standard for USA men’s basketball.
“He has put the stamp on being the greatest Olympian,” USA Basketball forward Bam Adebayo said. “He has imprinted his name at the top.”
Durant scored 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field, nailed three 3-pointers and added 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal in Team USA’s 98-87 victory over France in the men’s basketball gold medal game late Saturday night at Bercy Arena. He also won Olympic golds in 2012, 2016 and 2020 in men’s basketball.
Durant has a record 518 career points while wearing a USA Basketball uniform through 28 games. No one else has scored more than 400 points in USA men’s basketball. The next closest all-time scorer is four-time Olympian LeBron James with 358 points, followed by four-time Olympian Carmelo Anthony with 336. James and Anthony both earned three gold medals and one bronze (2004 Athens Games).
“It’s going to be a long time before somebody breaks that record,” Adebayo said. “I’m happy for him. Proud of him. He keeps the main thing the main thing. He continues to play basketball the right way.”
Durant has maintained that records are meant to be broken, but based on the statistics, his Olympic scoring record won’t be broken anytime soon, if at all.
James, 39, said after the gold medal game that he is unlikely to play in the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Following Durant, the top American male Olympic scorers ranked No. 2-10 are all retired players. Considering Durant’s record scoring average of 18.5 points, one likely has to better that in average over four Olympic Games to surpass his total points.
“I can see somebody beating that number,” Durant, who is from Seat Pleasant, Maryland, said. “Records are made to be broken, like I said. My goal every time is to represent my country, my state, my street, my family. And to help push the game forward. Since I’ve been here, we’ve done that.
“We have built on what the Dream Team did in 1992. We carried that torch. That was the main goal.”
While James is often included in the greatest player in NBA history discussion, he also views Durant as one of the greatest, too.
“KD is one of the all-time greats,” James said. “If you look at his silhouette, look at his skill, he is one of the best players we have ever seen play the game of basketball. No matter your opinion about him or whether you like him, if you really just look at basketball and say basketball player talent, he is out of this world.”
There is another potential hurdle for any American with the ability to challenge Durant’s scoring record: Durant, 35, hasn’t ruled out playing in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“As far as ’28, who knows? We’ll see,” Durant said.
Marc J. Spears is the senior NBA writer for Andscape. He used to be able to dunk on you, but he hasn’t been able to in years and his knees still hurt.
