<
        >

          Olympics 2021 - LeBron James, Bradley Beal and more weighed in as Team USA secured its fourth straight men's basketball gold medal

          • Brianna Williams, ESPNAug 7, 2021, 04:53 AM

          The United States men's basketball team has clinched its fourth straight gold medal in the Olympic Games with a 87-82 win over France, marking the second-longest streak in the event's history. (Team USA won seven straight gold medals from 1936-68.)

          Team USA had quite a shaky start in its quest for gold. France handed the U.S. a shocking 83-76 loss in the opening game of pool play that snapped a 25-game Olympic winning streak dating back to the 2004 Games.

          Olympics medal tracker | Schedule

          The only other team to win the gold medal after losing its opener in the Olympics was the Soviet Union in 1988.

          France's squad was full of NBA stars, including three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum, who was responsible for a game-saving block that lifted France over Luka Doncic and Slovenia, 90-89, and into the gold medal match. Evan Fournier of the New York Knicks also led the team in scoring.

          With the win, Kevin Durant joins Carmelo Anthony as the only players to win three Olympic gold medals for the U.S. men's national team. The only other players to win three medals overall for Team USA are David Robinson and LeBron James.

          The win is also particularly significant for the Milwaukee Bucks' Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, who join Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving as the only players to win an NBA title and Olympic gold in the same year.

          ESPN Stats and Information contributed to this story.