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With every historical mark Kevin Durant sets, he reminds people he’s not about the records, but the wins.
Now he’s just one more victory away from being the most highly-decorated man in Olympic basketball history.
Durant had already broken Team USA’s all-time Olympic scoring mark for men and women. And on Saturday the former Nets star will take aim at a record fourth gold medal when the U.S., faces France in the final. And he’s done it all in front of his biggest fan and the woman he’s called the real MVP: His mother, Wanda.
“It’s going to be an awe-inspiring moment for us all,” Wanda Durant told The Post via phone from France. “And I know sometimes that may sound cliché, but if you look at it, what it shows is that even though you’ve accomplished a lot in your life, you can still continue to perform at a high level and continue to accomplish goals, goals that you may not even set but attainable goals just the same.
“And so, in essence, don’t quit even though you have a level of success: keep going because you don’t know what is in store for you. So that’s the lesson that his accomplishment, the message that his accomplishment will have, in my opinion.”
The list of accomplishments is prolific. And historic.
The 36-year-old Durant has four league scoring titles, two NBA championships, winning Finals MVP in both. And as great as he’s been in the league, his work on the world stage may be even better.
Arguably the most natural scorer in history, injuries and absences by Nets teammates Kyrie Irving and James Harden undercut his time in Brooklyn. It’s about the only blemish on his surefire Hall of Fame résumé. But the talent surrounding him on Team USA has allowed him to be at his singular best.
Durant broke Lisa Leslie’s all-time scoring record for Team USA on Tuesday, with Wanda in the stands. A win over France (📺 Sat., 3:30 p.m. on NBC) would let him surpass Carmelo Anthony for the most gold medals in Olympic men’s basketball. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Durant would start in the final.
It’s going to be a moment to cherish for Wanda.
“I am extremely proud of him, like any parent is in awe of any accomplishment that their adult child has worked so hard for,” Wanda said. “So I was elated (on Tuesday) to be a part of it, to watch it, to see it with my own eyes, and I’m just as proud of him as any mother of their son.”
Durant has 503 points in Olympic competition, just the eighth person — man or woman — to reach that threshold. He’s also the eighth-leading scorer in NBA history.
Wanda has been around for a host of those highlights. And after missing out on the Rio Olympics in 2016 and then Tokyo in 2021 during COVID-19 restrictions, she’s been on hand to soak up the moment in Paris, even joining her son at a postgame meal celebrating the win over Serbia.
“If someone told me that this will all happen, I would’ve been like, no, I would not have been able to see it at the time,” Wanda said. “Not that I wouldn’t have believed in him, but because of basketball he has crossed so many genres of life and so many different professional communities, so many different ecosystems, so many different spectrums. And basketball has opened up the world to him.
“If there’s anything I would’ve been shocked at, it’s that basketball has crossed all these different genres. But when it comes to Kevin as a human being and as a talent, I knew that he could accomplish any goal that he set forth because of his work ethic and his do-not-quit attitude.
For his part, Kevin Durant has shrugged off the numbers. He praised Leslie as ‘the gold standard,’ saying he’s focused on a gold medal.
“Records are meant to be broken, so somebody will come along and do the same to me,” Durant told reporters in France. “My focus is on trying to win this gold.”
Durant could conceivably crack the Top 5 in men’s all-time Olympic scoring. Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili of Argentina sits fifth with 523 points.
“That’s Captain America status. Now we just have to get him his fourth gold,” said Devin Booker, Durant’s Team USA and Phoenix Suns teammate.
After both Harden and Irving had demanded trades in Brooklyn and forced their way out, Durant was left as the last star standing before requesting a move to Phoenix at the 2023 trade deadline. Booker has repeatedly gushed about Durant’s work ethic, something that the latter has openly credited to the single mother that raised him in Prince George’s County (Md.), just outside of Southeast Washington, D.C.
“It makes me proud, because he’s attributed his work ethic and the foundation of hard work … to me and watching me,” Wanda told The Post. “And then what he’s done is he’s taken that…and built upon the foundation that was instilled in him. So, I don’t take a whole lot of credit for it; as a parent we instill values that we deem are important, and that’s what I did.
“But what I’m most proud of is that he didn’t solely rest on my work ethic to accomplish what he needed in his life. He built upon the work ethic that was instilled in him through his upbringing, and now he’s making it his own. And so when he inspires others, it can become a part of their foundation. So that’s what I’m most proud of, that he was able to build upon what was instilled in him.”
Brooklyn in Paris
A few current Nets have also been busy in Paris the past few weeks.
Newly-hired Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez guided Canada into the quarterfinals before falling to France during the hosts’ run to the Finals.
And Nets point guard Dennis Schröder will lead Germany in the bronze medal game Saturday against Serbia.
