In a tight race, the U.S. defeated Spain
today (August 12) to win the gold medal for Men's Basketball.
Kevin Durant scored 30 points for the
team, topping LeBron James' 19 and Kobe Bryant's 17. The game echoed the 2008
Beijing gold medal game in which the U.S. pulled away in the fourth quarter from
Spain to win 118-107.
After bragging that their team was better
than the 1992 Dream Team, the U.S. just squeaked by Spain to win 107-100. The
win does help to detract from the 2004 bronze medal disaster in
Athens.
Unfortunately, U.S. team coach Mike
Krzyzewski has announced that he'll be retiring as the national team coach
following this Olympics, after taking the team to gold in 2008 and now
2012.
Everybody wanted a picture with the NBA's
greatest young star. Friends, family members, the NBA's omnipresent and
eternally leather-clad fan, Jimmy Goldstein – even Kevin Durant's own mother.
Thursday morning was closing hard on Wednesday night, and Durant had wandered
onto the court to find his mom for one more kiss. As they hugged, the arena's
overhead video scoreboard, lowered for some maintenance work, continued to flash
the Oklahoma City Thunder's newest title: Western Conference
champions.
The parade of well-wishers met Durant the
moment he emerged from the arena's tunnel and stepped onto the floor. For nearly
20 minutes, Durant obliged them all, taking pictures, signing autographs, no one
wanting the night to end. Neatly dressed in sea-foam slacks, plaid belt and blue
sportsjacket with a flower on the lapel, Durant looked like he was headed to the
prom instead of the NBA Finals. Finally, he pulled his mother close one last
time and asked:
"Y'all ready?"
Yes, they're ready. Every last one of
them. These young Thunder. The proud city they've carried on this magical ride.
Durant's led them all. From the rubble of a 23-win season, from a 2-0 hole
against the San Antonio Spurs in the West finals, from an 18-point deficit on
Wednesday night, he's lifted them on his slender shoulders.
The West now runs by Durant's clock. He's
just 23, and, still, he was tired of waiting. From the Thunder's ferocious point
guard, Russell Westbrook, to their cool-headed and crafty reserve, James Harden,
they all believed the same: They didn't need to respect their elders anymore;
they needed to beat them. No longer is age an excuse for the Thunder. It's an
asset.
"I think the youth is kind of something
that wills us," Westbrook said.
The Thunder speak often of their
"family," and it's true. So many of them are so young, they've all grown up
together. All these team-is-one mantras can get a little nauseating to
outsiders, but the Thunder believe them. You won't find Durant alone on
billboards in Oklahoma City. It's all team shots or pictures of the Thunder
flag. The photos lining the walls of the Thunder's arena and practice facility
are the same: players' hands clasped in a huddle; a snapshot of the team's logo
on a player's shorts. No one individual is greater than the whole, conventional
marketing plans be damned.
