Tatum Helps Lead Team USA to 2020 Olympic Gold

TOKYO — Former Duke basketball standout Jayson Tatum was Team USA's second-leading scorer with 19 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds as the United States won its fourth consecutive gold medal, fending off France, 87-82, at the Saitama Super Arena on Saturday in Saitama, Japan.

The Americans now have 16 golds from the 19 Olympics in which they have participated. Tatum's gold is the seventh won by former Blue Devil players, joining Kyrie Irving (2016), Carlos Boozer (2008), Grant Hill (1996), Christian Laettner (1992), Tate Armstrong (1976) and Jeff Mullins (1964). Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski was a part of four gold medal winning teams, as an assistant in 1992, and the head coach in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Team's USA fourth consecutive gold medal in the Olympics extends a run started by Coach K, as the Hall of Fame coach of the Blue Devils guided an American resurgence on the international stage with an 88-1 record and gold medals in Beijing, London and Rio as the national team coach from 2005 to 2016.

Kevin Durant played a key role on Coach K's squads in 2012 and 2016 with 30-point efforts in each of the gold medal games. He was central again in Tokyo, pouring in a game-high 29 points, including two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to seal the victory.

"I hate to compare stuff because you know everything is its own moment," Durant said, "but this is one of those special journeys that it's just hard to describe, because each and every one of us put in that work every single day, from the coaches, to the trainers, to the players. We all came in with that goal of, 'Let's finish this thing off. Let's build a family. Let's build this team. Let's grow this team every day.' And when you are part of a team that's evolving by the second, it's just amazing to see."

Milwaukee Bucks teammates Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, who joined the Olympic team in the early-morning hours before the U.S. played France in pool play on July 25, became the fourth and fifth players to win the NBA Finals and an Olympic gold in the same year -- joining Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Kyrie Irving).

Tatum finished the Olympics tournament as Team USA's second leading scorer by averaging 15.2 points on .492 (33-of-67) shooting from the field. The Boston Celtics star hit on 17-of-38 (.447) from three-point range.

As if the gold medal wasn't enough motivation, the Americans also wanted to show their loss in the pool-play opener to France – and two more unexpected losses in Olympic tune-up games -- was due more to coming together swiftly after a delayed NBA season than a true representation of their talent.

In an 83-76 loss on July 25 to the French, the U.S. lost a late seven-point lead and watched France close the game on a 16-2 run to snap the Americans' 25-game Olympic winning streak.

"I remember we had a team meeting after the first game against France, Pop (head coach Gregg Popovich) wasn't there," Durant said of the game in which he scored only 10 points and was in foul trouble. "You know when you have a team meeting, you're kind of at the bottom. So, we just worked our way up from there. Everybody just committed to doing what's best for the group, no matter what. It was just amazing to see that clock run down to zero and us celebrate like that and then celebrate in the locker room. It was just incredible, man."

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Tatum Helps Lead Team USA to 2020 Olympic Gold

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