Kevin Durant entered the Paris Olympics with a strong case as the greatest player in USA Basketball history. It just got stronger. With a dunk in the third quarter of in Tuesday's Olympic quarterfinal round, Durant became Team USA's all-time leading Olympics scorer.
Durant entered Tuesday's game trailing the previous mark of 488 points held by U.S. great Lisa Leslie by five points.
He got off to a slow start with two points in the first half as Joel Embiid and Devin Booker paced the U.S. scoring effort.
But he got an early bucket off the bench in the third, then followed it up with a dunk from the baseline on a pass from Anthony Davis to give USA an 86-59 lead. Kevin Durant passes Lisa Leslie to become Team USA's all-time leader in Olympic basketball competition, male or female on this dunk. Leslie scored 488 points in four Olympics.
The dunk put Durant at 489. — Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) The bucket put Durant at 489 career points in his fourth Olympic Games. Leslie set the previous mark in four Olympics that ended with four gold medals.
Leslie's mark had stood since the U.S. women secured gold in 2008 in Beijing.
Four games and 16 years later, the mark now belongs to Durant with two games likely remaining in his USA Basketball career. He finished Tuesday's game with 11 points, sending his career Olympics scoring tally to 494. Carmelo Anthony is the second-leading U.
S. men's scorer with 336 points in Olympic play. LeBron James reached 328 points on Tuesday and is on pace .