Kevin Durant becomes all-time leading scorer in USA Basketball history

There have been some great Olympians to play for USA Basketball but from a scoring perspective, none touch Kevin Durant. He became the all-time leading scorer in program history during Tuesday’s quarterfinal matchup against Brazil. Durant now has 489 points while representing the Red, White, and Blue.

Lisa Leslie, who won four Olympic Gold Medals for the United States, previously held the record after a great international career of her own. Leslie also played a big role in non-Olympic events for the women’s team, having four Gold Medals in other events plus a bronze medal.

Durant entered the 2024 Olympics dealing with a calf injury and has been coming off the bench for Steve Kerr’s team. He is still the second-leading scorer on the squad, averaging 16.0 points entering Tuesday night. Anthony Edwards has been a few ticks better at 16.7 points.

“It feels good to accomplish stuff like that with this group of guys,” Durant said following the Puerto Rico win. “It’s a fun group of guys and I like being in our locker room with them. It’s cool to do that type of stuff but we’re just trying to get that gold.

“…We always play together, we play off of each other. We’ve got two different units that play different ways — but we’re all still on the same page. It’s been a fun first three games and we’re looking forward to the medal rounds now.”

Although Durant was not a part of the famous Redeem Team back in 2008, he has been the consistent presence for USA Basketball over the past 16 years. If the US can get the job done in Paris, a fourth consecutive Olympic Gold Medal will be heading back stateside with Durant. That would be a men’s record in itself, surpassing Carmello Anthony for the most all-time.

Tokyo 2020’s gold medal was in large part due to Durant and his accomplishments. In six games, the long-time superstar averaged 20.7 points while shooting 52.9% from the field and 37.5% from three. Durant also led the team in rebounds and assists, averaging 5.3 and 3.7, respectively.

Durant and the rest of the US team still have some work to do. Closing out Brazil is the top priority while the winner will be waiting for Serbia on the other side. The two did face each other during Pool Play, with the United States coming out on top by 26.