Golden State Warriors forwards Kevin Durant and Draymond Green and guard Klay Thompson will be presented with their official USA Basketball Championship rings prior to tip-off of the Warriors vs. Knicks game at Oracle Arena on Thursday, December 15, it was announced today. The rings, which will be presented by Warriors Executive Board Member and 1960 Olympic gold medalist Jerry West and USA Basketball Men’s National Team Director Sean Ford, commemorate the trio’s efforts in helping the U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team capture gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this past summer.
Durant earned his second career Olympic gold medal in Rio, having previously won gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, while Green and Thompson each earned their first Olympic gold medal. In Rio, Durant led the team in scoring by averaging 19.4 points per game during the USA’s perfect 8-0 run through the tournament. The 6’9” forward owns the two highest point totals in a single Olympic competition in U.S. history, scoring a record 156 points in 2012 and following it up with 155 points in 2016. Durant has scored 311 total points for Team USA in his Olympic career, second only to Carmelo Anthony (336) for most career points scored by an individual in U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team history.
The Warriors were just the second NBA team to boast a trio of players on a U.S. Team at the Olympic Games since active NBA players began participating in the Olympics in 1992 (Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012). Durant, Green and Thompson join Chris Mullin (1992) as the only Warriors players to capture Olympic gold. In addition, Golden State guard/forward Andre Iguodala earned a gold medal in 2012 prior to joining the Warriors.