It wasn’t Kevin Durant’s most iconic shot or even iconically Kevin Durant, but it was among the most important buckets of his career.
During the third quarter of Team USA’s semifinal win over Serbia, Anthony Davis passed to Durant for a routine dunk. It wasn’t as dazzling as his go-ahead three-pointer in the 2017 Finals, as patented as his silhouette-worthy mid-range jumper or as disappointing as his toe-on-the-line jumper in the 2021 playoffs, but Durant’s dunk did make him the all-time U.S. Olympic scoring leader.
And with Saturday’s win over France in Paris, Durant became the only basketball player to earn four Olympic Gold medals and built an iron-clad case as the greatest Team USA men’s basketball player of all time.
Incredible by any standard, redefining for the NBA’s greatest superstar without a home team.
In his four Olympic summers, Durant has recorded more points (518) than any other man or woman to participate on Team USA. No one else has scored more than 400 points in USA men’s basketball. Durant is also USA Basketball’s all-time leader in field goals, three-pointers and free throws.
“He has put the stamp on being the greatest Olympian,” USA teammate Bam Adebayo said. “He has imprinted his name at the top.”
For Durant, starring for Team USA has been the only constant of his career. Having suited up in red, white and blue in four Olympics, he has never done so while playing for the same NBA team twice.
In the 2012 London Games, Durant was coming off a Finals run with the Oklahoma City Thunder. A month before the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, Durant had signed with the Golden State Warriors. While in Tokyo in 2020, Durant had just completed his first year with the Brooklyn Nets. And this summer, Durant is under contract with the Phoenix Suns.
Durant is the all-time scoring leader for Team USA, but he’s third in Thunder history and doesn’t crack the top 10 for the Warriors, Nets or Suns.
But never mind all the stats. When you close your eyes and think of Durant, what jersey is he wearing?
LeBron James will be remembered as a Cavalier. Stephen Curry is a Warrior for life. Durant is…
The point is that Durant isn’t of Seattle, Oklahoma City, Oakland, Brooklyn or Phoenix. The man who cycles through Chicago White Sox, Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves hats cannot claim a fanbase as his own.
It’s a fact that has complicated the thinking around Durant’s legacy. When he is eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame, which fanbase will celebrate?
Or what if the NBA’s greatest reaper for hire has crossed over into something different?
Players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have individual fanbases that arguably outsize any fanbase of a specific team. Durant does, too. He’s a hooper’s hooper. A basketball purist’s dream. He’s your favorite player’s favorite player.
He’s also more decorated than a TGI Friday’s in the 90s. Two-time champion, two-time Finals MVP, 2014 MVP, 14-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA and six times as a first-teamer, four-time NBA scoring champion and, now, four-time Gold medalist.
Kevin Durant was born in our nation’s capital. He has played in middle America and our biggest cities, in red states and blue states. Kevin Durant isn’t a Thunder, Warrior, Net or Sun. He’s an American.
When Durant retires, I’ll think of him in a Team USA jersey, a gold medal draped around his neck. When his jersey hangs in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, it should be a Team USA jersey.
Durant spent his NBA career touring the country, ingratiating himself to different fanbases before making a complicated exit. The through-line for it all has been his place on Team USA, which has guaranteed a Gold medal every time and ushered in a golden age for USA Basketball.
For 12 years, Durant has represented Team USA better than any basketball player in history. (That’s one fewer year than Michael Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls.) Durant is the NBA’s greatest superstar without a home team, but that doesn’t mean he’s not for anyone.
It means Kevin Durant is for everyone.
