Basketball records to watch at 2024 Paris Olympics

As Team USA’s men and women pursue their fifth and eighth consecutive gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, respectively, a select group of individuals could etch their names in Olympic lore. Some of these potential records are so monumental that they transcend basketball and put some athletes in rarefied air. 

A fourth gold medal and moreKevin Durant is motivated to take the trip to Paris despite dealing with a calf strain. Two prestigious records are up for grabs for the Suns star. 

First, Durant can become the first male athlete to win four gold medals in a team sport, following Team USA’s wins in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games. France’s Nikola Karabatic will achieve the same feat if he can lead his country to gold in men’s handball. 

Second, Durant is just 54 points shy of surpassing Lisa Leslie’s record for most Olympic points across men and women. The sharpshooting forward already holds the record for most points (435) and PPG (19.7) in men’s Team USA history. 

First to a sixth OlympiadTeam USA’s Diana Taurasi and Spain’s Rudy Fernandez are set to become the first basketball players to compete at six Olympics. Both made their debuts at the 2004 Athens Olympics. 

Taurasi already shares the record (with Sue Bird) for most Olympic golds in a team sport, with five gold medals through the 2004 and 2020 Games. With a sixth gold medal, Taurasi will extend her record as the athlete with the most Olympic gold medals in any team sport. 

The oldest American debutant Stephen Curry will make his long-awaited Olympic debut in Paris. At 36, he will become the oldest basketball player to debut for Team USA since Larry Bird, who was 35 years and 240+ days when he played for the Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. 

On a related note, LeBron James, 39, will become the oldest hooper to ever represent Team USA, surpassing the previous record set by Bird in 1992. The 2024 Paris Olympics will mark James’ return to the Olympic stage for the first time in a decade. He did not play in 2016 and 2020.

A shot at immortalityThis one isn’t an individual record but one that will truly highlight American women’s dominance of Olympic basketball. Since their loss to the Soviets in the semifinals of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the American women have gone 56-0 en route to seven consecutive gold medals.

An eighth consecutive gold medal in Paris would give them the record for the most consecutive Olympic gold medals in any team sport, surpassing their male U.S. counterparts, who won seven golds between the 1936 Berlin Olympics and 1960 Rome Olympics.