Kevin Durant: 'This is one of those special journeys' / News - Basketnews.com

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Team USA had a tough start to their summer, losing two straight friendly matches and arriving in Tokyo with just eight players. The Americans also dropped their first Olympic match against France, making it their second straight loss against the European team

Player of the Game EFF 26 Kevin Durant Points 29 Accuracy 9-18 Rebounds 6 Assists 3

But in the end, the USA proved once again that they are the best basketball country in the world, defeating France and claiming the gold. Their all-time leading scorer, Kevin Durant, displayed yet another electrifying performance, scoring 29 points in the Olympic final. After the game, he talked about the difficult journey that paid off in the end.

"I hate to compare stuff because everything has its own moment. But this is one of those special journeys that is hard to describe. Each and every one of us put in that work every single day. From the coaches to the trainers to the players. We all came in with that goal of let's finish this thing off, let's build a family, let's build and grow this team every single day. Each game, we continued to grow. It was just that journey which was so important. You finish the job, you get the gold medal and the trophy, but when you go through that journey, it is just incredible to be part of something so special. I am bonded with these guys for life, and I am just glad that we all committed to this thing so early, stuck with it, and finished it off."

KD also spoke about his team coming together and building mutual trust: "We usually get the best players on this team. So to build a camaraderie with the most talented guys in the world, to fight for your country. It's special that we come together for a common cause because we battle against each other all year. We fight so hard to get the gold bar in the NBA but for us to rise above that and become teammates and brothers for life against the rest of the world is such a huge, huge deal. I am always grateful for the opportunity. It's just that brotherhood that we create that I am proud to be a part of. It brings me a lot of joy."

Kevin Durant

Position:SFAge:32Height:211 cmWeight:107 kgBirth place:Washington, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

Three-time NBA champion Draymond Green compared this victory to his other career accomplishments: "For me personally, this is right up there at the top. You just think about the road traveled to get here. Every one of us has been living through one of the craziest times that the world has seen. For it to have been pushed back a year, losing guys because of Covid, leaving your family - all of those things. And then the doubt. Every country continues to get better. The doubt we heard over and over again. You turn on Sports Talk in America, and everyone was crushing us. So, this is special."

Jrue Holiday has had an incredible summer, winning the NBA championship and the Olympic gold in a matter of a couple of weeks: "It's definitely a great summer, and now I have got to a point where I can actually enjoy it. The first team that I played against was France, and we lost to them. We felt it was only right that we met them in the Final. We did this one game at a time. We locked in defensively, and offensively, we kind of grew."

USA's head coach Gregg Popovich admitted that even with all the experience, these types of games are still nerve-wracking: "It's sort of an out-of-body experience when you are in one of these kinds of games. Once the ball goes up, you don't think about too much - you are just competing. It's before that is horrible. When you are thinking about whether you skipped any steps and what the other team can do to you. Those are the tough moments."

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