Kevin Durant is the greatest American male hoop player of all time

LAS VEGAS – Even though Kevin Durant hates to talk about his legacy, his golden game at the Tokyo Olympics made a pretty strong statement for him.

Durant is the greatest United States male basketball player in Olympic history.

Forget that cat with the shield: it was the real Captain America. And his star-studded uniform was the red, white and blue flag he draped over his shoulders after leading the U.S. team to a fourth straight gold medal with an 87-82 victory over France on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. .

“Kevin Durant is exactly what we thought he was: one of the greatest players to ever play this game. One of the most special guys you’ve ever seen tie his shoes and take a field. basketball – at 7 feet, do what he does, ”gushed his American teammate Draymond Green on Durant.

“He’s a special, special man. He carried his team like we needed them to, like he’s supposed to. Back for his third Olympics – American all-time goalscorer. There have been a lot of great players to don his jersey. He is n ° 1. This is something special.

There’s been a lot of talk about Durant and Green who didn’t always agree when they were together on the Warriors. But as they made their way to the victorious Olympic press conference – a conference that frankly could have been an austere silver medal, if it weren’t for Durant – they recorded a live video on Instagram berating the skeptics who had placed the American team just fourth, behind even Slovenia. .

After Durant’s show, these old takes did not age well.

“A lot of people at home doubted us. A lot of people said it was going to be difficult for us to win. And to be honest, they really don’t matter, but you hear so much noise, ”Durant admitted. “We got together and finished, which is the perfect ending for us. So we can’t wait to bring this home.

These skeptics have now been duly silenced. So are those who questioned Durant’s international curriculum vitae, which is now completely unassailable.

“Kevin Durant was one of the greatest players to ever play for the USA,” said outgoing Team USA general manager Jerry Colangelo. “He’s very special.

Special? When it comes to Team USA, Durant has been in a class of one. The biggest stars in the world played with him and differed, or played against him and got beaten. It showed the degrees of magnitude.

Durant is Team USA’s all-time top Olympic scorer, overtaking Carmelo Anthony in the Tokyo Games. And he tied Anthony as the only man with three gold medals.

Considering Durant’s long season and injury history, this begs the question: why?

“It’s just this fraternity that we created that I love to be a part of, and the journey of working with these guys every day. It brings me a lot of joy. I really, really enjoy it, ”Durant said.

“Building camaraderie with the most talented guys in the world, fighting for your country, representing my little section of the United States, my family and everyone else doing the same. It’s special that we can come together for a common cause because we fight against each other all year round. We’re fighting so hard to get that Golden Ball in the NBA, but for us to get past that and become lifelong teammates and brothers against the rest of the world is just a huge, huge deal.

After losing to the LeBron James Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals, Durant traveled to the London Olympics and scored 30 points in the gold medal game. After falling in the Western Conference final to Stephen Curry’s Warriors four years later, he went to Rio de Janeiro and lost 30 more in the gold medal game.

And still feeling the wounds of the Nets’ overtime loss to the Bucks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in June, Durant has pledged to compete in the Tokyo Games. Once in Japan, he avenged the United States’ opening loss to France by scoring 29 points in the final.

This may have been his biggest victory to date. Following a long season – one in which he returned from a broken Achilles and faced COVID-19 and injuries – Durant still looked like the best player on the planet.

“This skill is unmatched,” Durant said. “Are you digging?”

We dig.