Team USA player Kevin Durant. Anthony Behar

Kevin Durant shows humility after claiming Olympic record

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Aug 7, 2024 7:35 AM ET

Kevin Durant appreciates those who paved the way for him and deserves the same from his successors.

During Team USA's dominant 122-87 win over Brazil in Tuesday's quarterfinal of the Paris Games, Durant surpassed Lisa Leslie as the greatest scorer in U.S. Olympic basketball history. The Suns forward entered the game five points shy of surpassing Leslie's record of 488 points. He finished the game with 11 points, setting the new record at 494 points — and counting.

Leslie was one of the first to congratulate Durant for surpassing her 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

Durant seemingly downplayed the achievement by saying that "another great" would come along in the future and pass up his record. The "Slim Reaper" also made it clear he was more focused on helping Team USA capture a fifth consecutive gold medal than any personal achievements.

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
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 7, 2024

Entering the Paris Olympics, Durant already held the record for most points in men's Team USA history with 435. With 59 points through the first four games (14.8 PPG, 60% shooting), Durant has further established himself as the most decorated scorer on the Olympic stage.

The Olympic scoring record isn't the only piece of history Durant is on pace to set this summer. The two-time NBA champion is two wins away from becoming the first male athlete in Olympic history to win four gold medals in a team sport and the first to win as many gold medals in basketball. The sharpshooting veteran previously captured gold in London, Rio and Tokyo before the Paris Games.

Durant and Team USA will next face Nikola Jokic's Serbia in the semifinal on Thursday. The winner of the game will face either France or Germany in Saturday's gold medal tie.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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