Kevin Durant Drops Classy Message for Lisa Leslie After Breaking Her Olympic Record

Tom Dierberger | Aug 7, 2024

Kevin Durant walks off the court after beating Serbia during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Durant found his way into the USA Basketball record books on Tuesday.

Durant scored 11 points during Team USA's 122–87 victory over Brazil in the 2024 Olympic Games quarterfinals in Paris to bump his Olympic career total to 494 points (and counting), enough to surpass Lisa Leslie and become the all-time American leading scorer in Olympic competitions.

A few hours after the game, Durant logged onto social media to send a public message to Leslie, a women's basketball icon and WNBA legend.

"Records are meant to be broken, I’ll hold on to this until another great comes along and passes me up," Durant wrote. "Lisa Leslie you are the gold standard in basketball, I appreciate your love and support throughout the years."

Records are meant to be broken, I’ll hold on to this until another great comes along and passes me up…Lisa Leslie you are the gold standard in basketball, I appreciate your love and support throughout the years..much love to you always…it’s all about the gold baby. Let’s get… pic.twitter.com/huJxy8Qywa

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 7, 2024

Leslie scored 488 points for Team USA across four Olympic appearances, leading the Americans to the gold medal in 1996, 2000, '04 and '08.

Durant, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, still has some work to do to match Leslie's four golds. He and Team USA face their next challenge Thursday in the semifinals against Nikola Jokić and Serbia.