Kevin Durant’s status as Olympic basketball GOAT is major part of career legacy

Move over, Michael Jordan and the rest of the Dream Team. Move over, Carmelo Anthony. And even move over, LeBron James, the men's basketball MVP of the 2024 Olympics. 

With Team USA's gold medal win over France on Saturday, Kevin Durant can now claim the title of USA Basketball's greatest Olympian. And no matter how polarizing he may be for some fans, this is a major part of his legacy that requires respect. 

While some often criticize Durant for joining an already championship-proven Warriors team, arguing he took an easy path to titles, or are annoyed by his social media wars with fans, his Olympic legacy shows a side of him that just wants to hoop and represent his country. And it’s a side we should appreciate. 

James won his third gold medal and fourth medal overall, tying his friend Anthony in both categories, but Durant now has four gold medals in four Olympics. The Phoenix Suns star is now the winningest basketball Olympian of all-time. In fact, Durant now owns twice as many gold medals as the nation with the second most (Soviet Union) behind the United States. 

In addition to being the most decorated, Durant's status as the Olympic GOAT (greatest of all-time) is also due to his overall performance. Durant is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic completion, and that's for both the men and the women. His 518 points place him comfortably ahead of WNBA legend Lisa Leslie's 488. James' 358 and Anthony's 336 points are behind Durant for the men. 

Durant scored 156 points at the London Olympics in 2012, 155 points in Rio in 2016, added another 124 points in Tokyo and then padded his record with 83 more this year even while dealing with an injury. 

Even with less total production at 35-years-old in Paris, Durant's Olympic career points-per-game average is still head and shoulders above the rest. The 14-time NBA All-Star owns an average of 18.5, significantly better than James' 11.9 and Anthony's 10.8. 

He also holds the career lead in field goals made (173), field goals attempted (326), 3-pointers (88) and free throws (82). 

And just like in the NBA, Durant, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, has made a career of being at his best on the biggest stage and in the biggest games at the Olympics. 

Looking back at Durant in the Olympic finals, he put up 30 points against Spain in 2012, another 30 against Serbia in 2016 and one point shy of 30 for the third time against France in 2020. 

As for this year in Paris, Durant averaged 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 54% from the field. He scored 15 points with four rebounds and four assists in the gold-medal win over France. 

So even though where Durant stands among his fellow all-time greats in NBA history can be up for debate, there's no way to deny his place as USA Basketball's Olympic king. 

It's even possible Durant, who will be 39 when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics, isn't finished carving out his international legacy. When asked if he plans to retire from Olympic completion or go for a fifth gold, Durant offered a simple "we'll see" response to ESPN's Marc Spears.