The final was a classic David and Goliath matchup, with basketball superpower the United States, now winners of 15 of the 18 Olympics in which they have participated, going up against tiny Serbia, who were appearing in the Olympic tournament for the first time as an independent nation.
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Two 3-pointers before a steal and dunk pushed the US lead into double digits, and when he capped what may been the Americans’ best possessions in Rio, when they whipped the ball from side to side around the perimeter until it ended up in the hands of Durant, and then in the net.
Said Colangelo, referring to the considerable debate sparked back home by Durant’s move to the Golden State Warriors and the resulting Durant “duress” he says he’s seen with his own eyes: “This was good for him”.
The US men’s basketball team out-performed the Serbians 96-66 to deservedly grab the gold medal.
The country expected some gold medals in judo and wrestling, which it has dominated since the 1972 Munich Olympics, but not this time.
Serbia were guilty of missing too many shots and the United States capitalised, with Durant racking up 24 points as they went in at the halfway point with a 52-29 lead. The Warriors’ trio can now start their quest for an National Basketball Association championship with the affirmation of gold medals as a testament to their cohesion. Anthony has had one of the most illustrious worldwide careers of any US men’s basketball players ever.
The three men most responsible for Team USA surviving the absence of all the starry names that, because of injury or a mere desire for extra rest, didn’t make themselves available this summer: LeBron James, Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, etc. “I just want to say thank you for allowing me to be one of the leaders, not just of our team but of our country”, Anthony said. Representing our country on the biggest stage that you can be on. “. America will be great again, I believe that”. We’re all truly lucky to have an abundance of talent in the world’s greatest basketball league, and it’s great to see them come together every four years to showcase their talents to the world.
“For me”, he added with unmistakable relief, “I’m glad we got past this”.
Victory was never in doubt after a dominant second quarter, inspired by Kevin Durant, which saw the Americans pull 23 points clear at halftime.
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Teammate Stefan Markovic said his team failed to put the clamps on their star-studded rivals. Serbia’s vaunted perpetual-motion attack was stalled so completely that they frequently had to resort to one-on-one plays to get off even halfway decent shots.
