Men's Basketball is all wrapped up at the Tokyo Olympics, bringing an end to a thrilling month of hoops.
The United States defeated France in the championship round to finish with their fourth-consecutive gold medal, while France took home their third silver medal in the loss. Australia made history by defeating Slovenia in the bronze medal game, earning their first-ever men's basketball podium finish at the Olympics.
At the conclusion of the games, FIBA Basketball announced the tournament's "All-Star Five" team, representing the five best players at the Olympics.
Presenting the #Tokyo2020 Men's All-Star Five:
— FIBA | #Basketball #Tokyo2020 (@FIBA) August 8, 2021
⭐ Ricky Rubio 🇪🇸
⭐️ Patty Mills 🇦🇺
⭐️ Luka Doncic 🇸🇮
⭐️ Kevin Durant 🇺🇸
⭐️ Rudy Gobert 🇫🇷 #Basketball
It's hard to argue against the case for any of these stars that dominated while representing their countries.
Ricky Rubio was incredible for Spain, averaging 25.5 points per game. The 30-year-old point guard went out with a bang, pouring in 38 points in Spain's loss to the United States in the first round of the Knockout Stage. His scoring total was the most points any individual player had ever posted against Team USA.
Patty Mills earned the other guard spot after leading Australia with 23.3 points and 6.3 assists per game. The 32-year-old Aussie will go down in history, torching Slovenia for 42 points and nine assists to assure that his country would take home its first-ever medal for men's basketball at the Olympics, winning bronze.
Despite coming up short of his country's first medal, Luka Doncic was nothing short of incredible at the Olympics. In his debut on this stage, the 22-year-old continued to impress by averaging a remarkable 23.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game. His points per game average was good for third-most in the tournament, while his rebounding average ranked second and his assists average ranked first.
Rudy Gobert was the anchor to France's stout defence that got them to the gold medal game. The star center averaged 10.2 points and 9.4 rebounds, holding down the paint on both ends of the floor for the team that finished with a silver medal.
Lastly, Kevin Durant was rewarded for his consistent play that helped lead the United States to another gold medal. Durant averaged 20.2 points per game at the Olympics, becoming the United States' all-time leading scorer in the process. He may have solidified his title as the greatest USA Basketball player of all-time, joining Carmelo Anthony as the only players in USA history to have three Olympic gold medals for men's basketball. He had 29 points to close out the first-place finish for the United States, continuing his historical dominance in gold medal games.
These five players were more than deserving of their spots on the Tokyo Olympics "All-Star Five" team.
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