Main Takeaways from USA Men’s Basketball Winning the Gold Medal

1. THE NBA IS AS INTERNATIONAL AS EVER BUT THE USA IS STILL KING

Given the United States’ overwhelming dominance in international contests since starting to use professionals in 1992, the team’s most recent gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics may not have come as a surprise to some. However, the road to the gold was not as smooth as many had originally expected.

The Americans struggled early on, dropping two consecutive exhibition matches to Nigeria and Argentina as well as a disappointing loss to France to begin the Olympic group stage. With time, however, the players began to gel and showed the rest of the world why they are considered among the best in the game. International basketball looks to become increasingly competitive as other countries are on the rise, but for now the United States still runs the show.

2. KEVIN DURANT IS THE GREATEST OLYMPIC BASKETBALL PLAYER EVER

One of the biggest reasons for team USA’s success despite growing international competition was the stellar play of Kevin Durant. The Nets star averaged 27 points in the knockout games en route to becoming the all-time leading scorer in US men’s basketball history and winning his 3rd gold medal, tying Carmelo Anthony for the most ever by a men’s basketball player. These achievements, coupled with his incredible performances in gold medal games, cements Durant’s status as the best Olympic basketball player ever.

3. THIS WAS THE MOST IMPRESSIVE GOLD MEDAL IN USA’S OLYMPIC HISTORY

As if the rising level of talent from other countries wasn’t enough, this year’s US squad did not have the talent on its roster that it was used to having. Long gone are the days when perennial All-Stars and future HOFers would simply obliterate any team in their path; many top players could not participate this year due to the plethora of injuries that occurred as a result of the shortened season.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly disrupted the timing of the NBA playoffs and the Olympics. The team was unable to begin practices until just prior to the games, and certain key players (Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Devin Booker) had to fly into Tokyo less than a day before their first game because the NBA Finals were as late as they have ever been. In the face of all this adversity, however, team USA demonstrated incredible passion and drive to secure their least likely gold medal yet (still very likely).