Their subpar play in Rio, likewise, was another reminder that the us isn’t as invincible as they might seem.
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Durant and Anthony hugged late in the fourth quarter with the result long decided. Nemanja Nedovic paced Serbia with 14 points. Durant led the US with six.
It also caps a brilliant tenure for coach Mike Krzyzewski, who signs off after guiding Team USA to three consecutive Olympic gold medals and an astounding 88-1 record in global competition.
Kevin Durant lead Team USA in scoring with 30 points, and Carmelo Anthony passed David Robinson on the all time rebounding list for Team USA during Olympic play.
But the most recent of these achievements, he says, ranks among the highest moments of his still young basketball career. The last part of his statement was a reference to the vocal stance Anthony has taken this summer in the wake of shooting deaths of African American men by police officers and the shooting deaths of police officers across the country. “I knew [a backlash] was coming”, Durant said via The Vertical. I committed to something … “I’ve seen the worst of it”, referring to the team’s humiliating bronze medal finish in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The blowout win capped a remarkable 12-year journey around the five interlocking rings for Anthony, only 20 and fresh off his rookie year in the National Basketball Association when he played on a 2004 team remembered for failure.
Of the newcomers, DeMarcus Cousins provided the US a big spark off the bench.
DeMarcus Cousins added 13 points and 15 rebounds in the title match, the USA cruising to the basketball gold for the 15th time. Despite his proximity to U.S. Olympic history, he was non-committal on his participation in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“This team kept getting better and even those three games in pool play, we had not played that type of game against that type of level of opponent”, Krzyzewski said.
It was a wild ride in Rio, which featured several wonderful upsets, but the one, steady constant is that U.S. still reigns supreme. I’m here today, three gold medals later.
Despite going into these games as the overwhelming favorites, Team USA wasn’t almost as dominant as their Olympic predecessors have been.
Now there’s nothing left to do for Anthony, whose Olympic career began in disgrace and ends with him being the most decorated player to ever wear a US jersey.
It was a tough ending for a impressive run for Serbia in its first Olympics as an independent nation.
USA basketball’s only four-time Olympian, Anthony exits with three gold medals and a pack of US team records.
Every other player on the roster, including Kyrie Irving, earned their first gold medal in their first Olympic appearance.
2016 marks the end of the line for Anthony and Coach K, but not the end of USA Basketball.
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He has guided the United States to Olympic gold in 2008, 2012 and now 2016, as well as world titles in 2010 and 2014. He has played a key role in rejuvenating the United States’ Men’s Basketball program and now passes the torch to Gregg Popovich. While the journey wasn’t easy, they’ll forever be golden.
