In the moment Team USA forward Kevin Durant stood above all other scorers in Olympic history, he turned the focus away from himself and back toward his team.
The Olympics are still about one thing.
“Records are meant to be broken, so somebody will come along and do the same to me,” Durant told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “My focus is on trying to win this gold.”
Durant, the 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player, needed just six points to break Basketball Hall of Famer and WNBA legend Lisa Leslie’s Olympic record of 488 points in Olympic competition headed into Team USA’s 122-87 win over Brazil in the Olympic quarterfinals — Durant scored 11 points.
Leslie was a four-time gold medalist. Durant is trying to win his fourth gold at the Paris Olympics.
Team USA returns to action on Thursday to face Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in the Olympic semifinals.
Durant and Leslie: Similar Paths to Hoops Stardom
It’s fitting that Leslie is the player who owned the record Durant broke, as Durant’s career has mirrored hers in some pretty incredible ways.
Leslie was a 6-foot-5 center with the skills of a forward. One generation later, Durant was a 6-foot-11 forward who was allowed to thrive on the wing.
Both players earned National Player of the Year in college. Leslie at USC in 1994 and Durant at Texas in 2007. Both players were first-round picks. Durant at No. 2 overall to the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007 and Leslie was allocated to the Los Angeles Sparks in the first round of the first WNBA draft in 1997.
Leslie is a two-time WNBA champion and two-time WNBA Finals MVP.
Durant is a two-time NBA champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP.
Durant, who is entering his 17th NBA season, is an 11-time All-NBA Team selection. Leslie played 12 seasons in the WNBA, all for the Sparks, and was a 12-time All-WNBA Team selection.
Leslie was a three-time WNBA MVP, winning in 2001, 2004 and 2006.
Durant won his lone NBA MVP in 2014.
Durant Trying to Tie Leslie With Four Gold Medals
Leslie won four Olympic gold medals at four consecutive games; Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
Durant is trying to win his fourth gold medal in his fourth consecutive Olympics following London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020.
Durant, 35 years old, has embraced the role of one of the elder statesmen on Team USA, taking on the role the late Kobe Bryant once filled for players like Durant and teammate LeBron James on the 2012 team.
Team USA leading scorer Anthony Edwards turned 23 years old during the Paris Olympics, with his Olympic teammates throwing him a surprise party — one he walked into alongside Durant.
“(Durant) is just the type of guy — he walks in the gym and even though he’s not practicing, he goes straight to a basketball and shoots before he even thinks about doing anything else,” Team USA guard Anthony Edwards told The Athletic before the Olympics. “That’s how I am. So I mean, I can’t wait to play alongside him.
