LeBron James joins Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony in exclusive US Olympic record club
LeBron James is no stranger to scoring records as he earned another honor during Wednesday’s game against South Sudan. While James might not be the top scorer yet, he joined Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony as only the third U.S. men’s basketball player with at least 300 points in the Olympics.
LeBron James needed six points heading into the game to reach the 300-point club. It took him less than five minutes in the first quarter, with two-pointer off of a pass from LA Lakers teammate Anthony Davis giving “The King” his 300th Olympics point.
Durant, who is also a part of the 2024 Paris Olympics and scored 23 points against Serbia on Sunday, led the pack with 458 points before the start of the game against Royal Ivey’s team. This is Durant’s fourth Olympics, and has golds with Team USA from 2012, 2016 and 2021.
The second player on the 300-point club for the U.S. is Carmelo Anthony. While the former New York Knicks star might be done with his playing days, he still holds the edge over his close friend LeBron James in terms of Olympics scoring. Anthony had 336 points in four Olympics. He won golds in 2008, 2012 and 2016 and finished third in 2004 in Athens.
At the time of writing, Team USA led South Sudan 55-36 at the end of the half, with James accounting for 10 points for Team USA.
LeBron James earned praise from legendary Coack K for leading Team USA in 2024 Olympics
Team USA has several NBA superstars in its roster, but it seems like LeBron James is still the best player. He had 21 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in the 110-84 win against Serbia. Before that, he led the Americans out of tricky situations against South Sudan and Germany in the Showcase games.
Seeing James’ performance, former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had high praise for the LA Lakers forward, via Jim Rome:
"You are talking about one of the incredible athletes in any sport forever and LeBron James. ... it means so much to him. … A great player can win by how that player looks, and LeBron has shown the face of a gold medal winner the whole time so far.”
There’s no doubt that James has risen to the occasion in Team USA’s quest for gold. He might not be as agile as he used to be but still has it in him to step up when his team and teammates need him.