Former Texas Basketball Star Kevin Durant Brings Home Olympic Gold Medal From Paris

Former Texas Longhorns star Kevin Durant helped the United States win its fifth consecutive Gold Medal in men's basketball.

Aug 8, 2024; Paris, France; United States guard Kevin Durant (7) celebrates during the second half against Serbia in a men's basketball semifinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Durant, the former Texas Longhorns great, won his fourth Gold Medal Saturday afternoon in Paris. He teamed up with 10 other NBA All-Stars to turn back the home-standing French team, 98-87. It might have been the most difficult road game for Team USA ever.

Durant, who this week became the all-time leading scorer in U.S. Olympic Basketball history, now holds the record for the most Gold Medals won. He finished the final game with 15 points.

The big man left Texas in 2007 to enter the NBA Draft, where he was the second pick of the first round by the Seattle Supersonics. His jersey was retired by Texas in a special ceremony in 2009.

Aug 8, 2024; Paris, France; United States guard Kevin Durant (7) and Serbia power forward Nikola Jokic (15) embrace after the game in a men's basketball semifinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

France's Victor Wembanyama, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs, scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss. Wembanyama will bring a silver medal back to the Lone Star state.

Durant made news the morning of the game as he was being taunted and trolled by Denver Nuggets fans for comments he made about Nikola Jokic after the semifinal game against Serbia. A reporter for The Denver Post referred to Durant as a putz.

“To all you nuggets fans, nobody gives a (expletive) who yall lames believe is the best player in the league,” KD tweeted, adding, “players got major respect for Jok, we don’t worship him like yall do but most are in awe of his brilliance. Trolling you cornballs for rooting against us is apart of the game. Deal (with) it.”

Sean Keeler, the columnist for The Denver Post, wrote that many fans in Denver were rooting against Team USA due to Durant's comments about Jokic.

Regardless of all the trash talk, Durant has now added another Gold Medal to his resume.