Although the Americans traditionally dominate the sport in the Olympic Games, they do not have an easy path to the gold medal by any means. “I knew [a backlash] was coming”, Durant said via The Vertical. After winning their third consecutive gold medal in Rio on Sunday, the U.S.is now 59-1 since Jerry Colangelo took over as chairman of the team following the 2004 Athens debacle. It was great to have competitive basketball to hold fans over, but now we’re just under two months away from the start of the 2016-17 NBA Regular Season when the Cavaliers’ embark on their first title defense in franchise history.
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With the win, Jimmy Butler became the third Marquette men’s basketball player to win a gold medal at the Olympics. And Anthony has collected three golds as precious to him as an National Basketball Association ring. I’ve seen the worst and I’ve seen the best and I stuck with it – we stuck with it.
Taurasi and Lindsay Whalen paced the USA on the scoreboard, pouring in 17 points apiece, while Maya Moore potted 14. Carmelo Anthony is the only member of the team who has been a member of the last three American teams and leaves Rio as Team USA’s all-time leading scorer.
Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Demarcus Cousins celebrate their new gold.
Anthony, who is hanging up his sneakers after 12 years with the national team, is the only player to have been coached by Krzyzewski in three Olympics.
Serbia’s silver medal is the second basketball medal for the country in Rio, with Serbian women’s team beating France in Saturday’s bronze medal game.
Jimmy Butler is a gold medalist.
2016 marks the end of the line for Anthony and Coach K, but not the end of USA Basketball.
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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. He has played a key role in rejuvenating the United States’ Men’s Basketball program and now passes the torch to Gregg Popovich.
