Kevin Durant added another milestone to boost his case as the greatest Team USA men’s basketball player of all time. The Phoenix Suns star is currently representing the United States of America in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris for the fourth time. Durant helped Team USA bring home gold medals during his prior appearances in London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021). Aside from his success in the Summer Games, the four-time NBA scoring champion also led the Americans to win gold in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey (now known as the FIBA World Cup).
Kevin Durant Sets Team USA All-Time Record In Major Stat
Durant boosted his Olympic legacy by reaching another major milestone. The 35-year-old became Team USA’s all-time leading rebounder during their final group stage game. Which was a dominant 103-84 victory against Puerto Rico on Friday, August 2, held at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille. The 6-foot-11 forward grabbed his 126th rebound in American colors during the contest, one more than previous record holder Carmelo Anthony’s tally of 125.
HISTORY! Kevin Durant is now the Team USA all-time leading rebounder & scorer!
With 4 rebounds vs. Puerto Rico, Durant passed Carmelo Anthony with 126 total rebounds in Olympic play.
Is Durant the greatest Team USA basketball player ever?
pic.twitter.com/qcDwTeCdrW
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) August 3, 2024
The 14-time NBA All-Star finished the game with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal in 19 minutes of game time. Despite his historic feat, Durant reiterated during the post-game interview on NBC that the main focus of the team remains to be winning the gold medal.
“I’m glad we won this game, it feels good to accomplish stuff like that with this group of guys. It’s a fun group of guys. I like being out here with them. It’s cool to do that type of stuff, but we’re trying to get that gold.”
With an undefeated 3-0 record in the group stage, Team USA topped Group C and is set to face Brazil in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Tuesday, August 6, at the Accor Arena in Paris.
Kevin Durant Is Already Team USA’s All-time Leading Scorer
The two-time NBA Finals MVP became Team USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), also surpassing Carmelo Anthony who had 336 points. Coming into Paris 2024, the six-time All-NBA First Team member had scored 435 points for the Americans in the Summer Games.
With a 23-point outing against Serbia, a 14-point performance against South Sudan, and 11 points against Puerto Rico, the Slim Reaper’s scoring total currently stands at 483 so far.
KD Closing In On Another Team USA Record Held By WNBA Icon
Durant is closing in on being the undisputed greatest scorer in Team USA history. The 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player is just six points away from overtaking WNBA legend Lisa Leslie to become the country’s overall all-time leading scorer for both men’s and women’s teams.
The former Los Angeles Sparks center took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to express her excitement about Durant breaking her longstanding record.
Well let me start to congradulate @KDTrey5 as he gets ready to break one of my
Olympic records! The Slim Reaper!! One of my all time favorites! https://t.co/pdKr2SUz3a— Lisa Leslie (@LisaLeslie) August 3, 2024
Leslie had scored 488 points in four Olympic editions in 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, and 2008 Beijing, claiming gold on all occasions.
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