Basketball phenom and Team USA star Kevin Durant is officially the player with the most points in American Olympic basketball history. Notably, Durant created Olympic history against Team Brazil. He passed Lisa Leslie (former record holder with the most points (488) in Olympic history) to be regarded as the USA Basketball’s all-time leading Olympic scorer.
Leslie scored 488 points in four Olympics for Team USA. She helped the country’s women win gold in 1996 in Atlanta, 2000 in Sydney, 2004 in Athens, and 2008 in Beijing. However, Durant has upped this record by surpassing Leslie at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It’s important to note that this is Durant’s fourth Olympic Games. He earned the gold medal in the last three Olympics he competed in.
With 435 points in his first 22 Olympic games, Durant was over 50 points below Leslie’s record going into the Paris Games. Taking on his new position as Team USA’s sixth man, Durant scored 23 points against Serbia in the opening game. He followed that with 25 in the next two group-stage games. Eventually, Durant broke her record in the matchup against Team Brazil, scoring 11 points against them.
On the other hand, Durant is completely focused on winning a fourth Gold medal for his nation at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In addition, with a Gold medal win in Paris, Durant hopes to make Olympic history as the first male basketball player to win four gold medals. It remains to be seen what happens next with Durant and his Team USA side in the upcoming knock-out matchups at the Paris Olympics.
WNBA legend Lisa Leslie congratulated Kevin Durant after breaking her scoring record
Team USA star Kevin Durant made headlines lately after creating history at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He became the USA Men’s basketball all-time leading Olympic scorer. With this feat, he surpassed the former record holder, Lisa Leslie. Notably, Leslie was in awe of Durant’s iconic feat as she took to X to congratulate Durant.
Congratulations @KDTrey5 I’m honored to have you break my @TeamUSA Olympic record!!! Our dedication to our country is evident and etched in stone!! Now go get another Gold medal my friend! One Team, One Goal, Gold!
Lisa Leslie via X
Congratulations @KDTrey5 I’m honored to have you break my @TeamUSA Olympic record!!! Our dedication to our country is evident and etched in stone!! Now go get another Gold medal my friend! One Team, One Goal, Gold!
🥇🇺🇸 #GoUSA— Lisa Leslie (@LisaLeslie) August 6, 2024
Not only Leslie but the whole basketball world came together to give Durant his flowers after achieving his iconic feat. In addition, Durant’s teammate Devin Booker gave him a nickname as he told NBC Sports, “That’s Captain America status,” after watching Durant create history at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Also, Durant has the opportunity to create another piece of history by winning Gold at this event. All throughout his career, no one has performed for Team USA quite like KD did. It will be interesting to watch how this pans out in the upcoming days/weeks for the Phoenix Suns star man.
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