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Kevin Durant is now the United States’ all-time Olympic scoring leader (men’s or women’s basketball) after surpassing Lisa Leslie’s mark during Team USA’s 122-87 quarterfinals win over Brazil on Tuesday.
While Durant achieved a tremendous honor, he is solely focused on winning gold.
“Records are meant to be broken, so somebody will come along and do the same to me,” Durant said postgame, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “My focus is on trying to win this gold.”
Durant also reflected on the record in a post on X, praising Leslie as the “gold standard in basketball” and reiterating that he has his sights set on winning a gold medal in Paris:
Kevin Durant @KDTrey5
Records are meant to be broken, I’ll hold on to this until another great comes along and passes me up…Lisa Leslie you are the gold standard in basketball, I appreciate your love and support throughout the years..much love to you always…it’s all about the gold baby. Let’s get… pic.twitter.com/huJxy8Qywa
Durant, already a three-time gold medalist, scored 11 points in the rout to amass 494 points for his Olympic career. Leslie, a four-time gold medalist, scored 488 Olympic points.
Durant could also finish top five on the men’s all-time Olympic scoring list before the Summer Games are complete. As of now, he sits eighth, but Basketball Hall of Famer and Argentinian national team legend Manu Ginobili is fifth with 523 points.
So Durant would need 30 points over the United States’ final two Olympic games to eclipse that mark. The all-time leader is Brazilian basketball legend Oscar Schmidt (1,093 points).
But as Durant said, the focus is on the gold. On that front, Team USA has been nothing short of exceptional, going 4-0 and outscoring its opponents by 99 points thus far.
So for now, the United States is focused on defeating Serbia, which overcame a 24-point deficit to beat Australia 95-90 in the quarterfinals. The semifinal tipoff is 3 p.m. ET Thursday.
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Publish date : 2024-08-06 15:43:00
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