Kevin Durant looked every bit the best player in the world during the Tokyo Olympics, including carrying Team USA in the first half of the gold medal game and finishing it with 29 points.
Not surprisingly, FIBA named Durant the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball MVP.
20.7 PPG | 5.3 RPG | 3.7 APG | 🥇🥇🥇
Presenting the #Tokyo2020 Men's #Basketball MVP:
Kevin Durant from @USABasketball 🇺🇸
— FIBA | #Basketball #Tokyo2020 (@FIBA) August 8, 2021
This came on the same day the Brooklyn Nets announced Durant signed a four-year, $198 million contract extension with the team. It’s been a good week for KD.
Durant was also part of the five-man all-tournament team named by FIBA for the Tokyo Games. Not surprisingly, he was joined by Luka Doncic of Slovenia, Patty Mills (who led Australia to the bronze), Rudy Gobert of France, and Ricky Rubio of Spain.
Presenting the #Tokyo2020 Men's All-Star Five:
⭐ Ricky Rubio 🇪🇸
⭐️ Patty Mills 🇦🇺
⭐️ Luka Doncic 🇸🇮
⭐️ Kevin Durant 🇺🇸
⭐️ Rudy Gobert 🇫🇷 #Basketball— FIBA | #Basketball #Tokyo2020 (@FIBA) August 8, 2021
There was no controversy with those selections; they were the clear and obvious ones. Just as making Breanna Stewart — the best and most consistent American woman through the Olympic tournament — the women’s Olympics MVP was a good choice (although a few American women could have made a case).
▪ 15.0 PPG
▪ 10.0 RPG
▪ 4.7 APGBreanna Stewart (@USABasketball 🇺🇸) is the #Tokyo2020 Women's #Basketball MVP! 🏆🥇
— FIBA | #Basketball #Tokyo2020 (@FIBA) August 8, 2021
Also worth noting: Durant and Stewart have bounced back from a torn Achilles to be the Olympics MVP. That injury used to be the end of a career, but no longer, not with the right player and advancements in medical technology and recovery.
