Well, Charles Barkley is now in an elite Olympian company. This new exclusive club contains only him and Kevin Durant in the top 4 spots. The two Phoenix Suns history makers hold the top 4 performances in an Olympics opening game for Team USA men’s basketball. Between both of them there are five Olympic golds. That might potentially become six at the rate KD is going. After sitting out the exhibition games, Durant gave Team USA a spectacular start in Paris with a record 23 points, 21 of those in his first nine minutes before halftime. And it’s only part of the history he made.
KD is in competition with himself. He didn’t beat his 2016 record of 25 points against China that is at the #1 spot of this list. When Barkley made his Olympic debut with the Dream Team in 1992, he scored 24 points against Angola (he did promise they were in trouble). That still sits at the #2 spot on the all-time list.
On Sunday, Durant dethroned himself with the 23-point outing at #3. His 2012 score of 22 points against France was bumped down to #4. And the coincidences don’t end there. Both KD and Chuck are tied in fourth place with Klay Thompson and Adrian Dantley for the Team USA athletes to score 30+ points in Olympic competition. Carmelo Anthony reigns supreme at the top two spots when he was Durant’s teammate twice.
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But there’s one list Charles Barkley and other NBA legends won’t be matching Durant in anytime soon. With his fourth Olympic opening game, Durant holds the top stop in all-time leading scorer in Team USA history. He’s made 458 points across three Olympic appearances and is on track to make it to 500 before the games are up.
Melo and LeBron James take the next two spots. Michael Jordan is at #5, with 256 followed closely by Barkley, with 231 points in 1992 and 1996 combined. Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade wrap up the top 10. However, only Bron has a chance to close the gap a little. The standard Durant is setting, though, is Olympian in feat.
Charles Barkley set Kevin Durant’s path
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Note that Team USA wouldn’t be made up of NBA pros if it wasn’t for the 1992 Dream Team who started it all. Sir Charles was the leading scorer of that team, backed by wild trash talk. He repeated the feat in 1996, also taking the rebounding leader title. He set the bar and KD surpassed it.
Almost as if he knew Chuck would comment (no one has a forgotten Barkley saying Durant is not a leader at the All-Star Game), KD stepped on the court with a point to prove. He overpowered Nikola Jokic and Serbia with an 8-9 shooting performance from the field and 5-5 from beyond the arc to take Team USA to a dominant 110-84 win.
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Barkley’s TNT colleague, Jamal Crawford, declared Durant is, “One of the greatest to ever touch a rock. And it’s not close,” referring to matching Chuck’s opening game record. Now he can come after Charles Barkley’s scoring and rebounding titles too.
Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.
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Does Kevin Durant's latest record make him the greatest USA basketball player of all time?