Since the Dream Team led by Jordan, Magic, and Marlon, the American men’s basketball team has been widely regarded as the strongest men’s basketball team in the world, with 12 top players from the NBA league gathered, making it the All Star of the All Stars.
Top 10 scorers in the history of the US men’s basketball team:
No.10 Pippen
Jordan’s strongest teammate, a versatile forward in the 1990s, scored a total of 170 points for the United States team
No.9 Karl Malone
Postman Malone scored a total of 171 points for the US team
No.8 Wade
Flash Wade is the scoring champion of the Dream Eight team, with a total score of 186 points on the US team
All time leading scorer in olympic basketball
No.7 Mullin
Left handed Jordan Mullin scored a total of 196 points for the United States team
No.6 Barkley
Fliggy Barkley scored a total of 231 points for the US team
No.5 Jordan
Basketball legend Jordan scored a total of 256 points for the United States team
No.4 David Robinson
Admiral David Robinson scored a total of 270 points for the United States team
No.3 James
Little Emperor James scored a total of 273 points for the US team, and this scoring record will continue
No.2 Anthony
Melo Anthony scored a total of 336 points for the US team, making Melo a big hitter for FIBA
No.1 Durant
Durant, the Grim Reaper, scored a total of 435 points for the US basketball team, and his scoring continues in this year’s US men’s basketball tournament
Kevin Durant, one of the most unsolvable scorers in modern NBA, averaged 27.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game in his 17 year professional career. He has now scored 28924 points, ranking 8th on the NBA’s all-time scoring chart. His efficiency and total number are both impressive. But this is not the strongest version of him, because Kevin Durant’s ability to play in international matches is even stronger than in the NBA, and he was once praised by American media as the greatest national team player in history. So, how strong Kevin Durant really is in outdoor games, today I will take you to analyze it carefully.
Kevin Durant’s talent is rare in ancient and modern times, and he is even more at ease under international basketball rules
Before focusing on Kevin Durant’s ability to play outside, the first thing we need to be clear about is why he became a superstar in the NBA league, which is crucial for understanding his ability to play outside. As a player with a height of 211cm, arm span of 226cm, and a weight of 108kg, Kevin Durant undoubtedly has the static talent to become a top player in the interior, but on top of these, Kevin Durant is also an outside player. This is extremely terrifying because an interior player not only has the dribbling skills and running speed of a guard, but also has a shooting ability that is higher than the NBA’s historical level. Whether it is within the three-point line or 2 meters away from the three-point line, they can easily shoot and hit the basket, which is undoubtedly a “monster” that can only appear in games.
This talent directly enables Kevin Durant to be both inside and outside, able to score without fear of defensive players of any height, even in the ordinary NBA league where there are players who can perfectly block him. After all, those who are taller than him are not as fast as him, and those who are faster are not as tall as him. Whether it’s sudden or shooting, everything is under his control, which is why Kevin Durant can also be so strong on the international stage. Because under FIBA (FIBA) rules, not only is the three-point line distance shortened, but the interior has not been defended for three seconds. Tall interior players can freely stand under the basket to defend, so the ability of players with strong breakthrough ability will be greatly weakened here. But Kevin Durant is different, he can shoot from any position, and his shooting skills are accurate. Ordinary shooting interference doesn’t work at all.
Therefore, with his height advantage, he must have those tall interior players come out to defend, otherwise the small man in front of Kevin Durant is like a “cannon frame”, and defense is virtually non-existent. However, once those tall interior players come out, Kevin Durant can choose to pass the ball and activate his teammates with strong breakthrough ability. You should know that Durant’s passing ability is not weak. Therefore, Kevin Durant’s talent is like a bug under FIBA rules. Unless he himself can be fixed, no one can restrict him, and he may even drag down the entire team while revitalizing his own team.
Kevin Durant’s past glorious record proves his lack of solutions
Regarding the above statement, some fans may feel that it is just a hypothesis and has not been truly realized. When the game really starts, the situation will be completely different. In fact, Kevin Durant has proven with multiple international court records that all of the above are true, and even more exaggerated. Let’s not talk about games like the World Championships. In just three Olympic Games, Kevin Durant alone scored 435 points, becoming the all-time scoring champion of the US team. His average score of 20.6 points per game directly surpassed international scoring experts such as Michael Jordan, Cameron Anthony, and Kobe Bryant, ranking first in the history of the national team. His scoring output and efficiency are unparalleled.
Meanwhile, while Kevin Durant scored these points, his shooting percentage was also frighteningly high, averaging 53.8% and 48.8% three-point shooting per game, which proves his dominance under FIBA rules and the helplessness of his opponents. In addition, it is worth mentioning that he has twice led the star studded national team to win the gold medal, leading the Dream Twelve team to win the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. At that time, apart from Kevin Durant, the most famous players of the Dream Twelve team were the newly crowned Kyrie Irving and the approaching senior Cameron Anthony. All other players were in the second or third tier of the NBA league, but Kevin Durant and Cameron Anthony went on to win the championship together;
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it was even more remarkable. While teammates were ordinary stars such as Javier McGee, Chris Middleton, Jamie Grant, and Kelden Johnson, as mentioned earlier, he directly revitalized the entire team and led the way to the finals with an average of 20.7 points per game, becoming the Olympic scoring champion. In the finals, facing the French team with tall interior lines, Kevin Durant perfectly demonstrated his shooting ability and won this gold medal with a single game performance of 29 points without bloodshed. And this extraordinary performance also earned him the praise of the media as the ‘savior of the US national team’.
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Post time: Aug-02-2024
